


Last One

by TheNinjaGirl93



Category: Naruto
Genre: Angst, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Multi, Tragedy/Comedy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2020-06-03 15:28:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 39
Words: 126,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19466845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheNinjaGirl93/pseuds/TheNinjaGirl93
Summary: Kakashi adopts an orphan baby he found in the woods. Unknown to him he creates a new war.Originally on Fanfiction.net





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> update 2020 complete

It had to be raining right now, just my luck. Not to say rain wasn't a good thing, I loved it when I was cozy inside, but right now, I wished it would stop. It obscured my pursuit of an enemy ninja, who had been seen scouting around the village. The rain turned the trees and grass around me into nothing but a green blur as I ran after the man. Unfortunately, with rain came another obstacle, slick surfaces. That combined with a timely smoke bomb from the enemy made me slip up. I was completely blinded and missed my next step, forcing me out of the trees.

  
"Damn it…" I cursed as I landed in a deep mud puddle. Great, just what I needed. I looked around as I pulled my foot out of the mud hole, but saw no sign of the man. He'd gotten away, again! This was the second attempt to get him, the first time Anko's team had been assigned to catch him. He was proving to be quite a crafty bastard.  
I sighed deeply, closing my eyes for a second to think of a new plan, when a sharp cry sounded through the forest. At first I thought it was a wounded animal, but when I heard it again it sounded more like a baby. Wait...that couldn't be right. Why would a baby be out here? Everything in me told me it was a trap, but I had to be sure. I followed the sound cautiously, the pitiful sound getting clearer the closer I got.

  
The cries were coming from a tree a few hundred meters away, but I couldn't find anything in the tree branches. I didn't want to give up, but the rain was getting harder and the area was starting to flood. I worried that whatever it was would be swept up in the storm. It was dumbluck that I happened to land in a bush next to the tree, coming face to face with a wicker basket. Inside was a flurry of movement underneath a thin blanket.  
I pulled the blanket back to find a small child, who was maybe only a month old. I couldn't tell if they were injured, but I knew I had to take them with me. I held the whimpering child close, trying to hush their cries. I noticed there were no signs of anyone else around; no footprints in the mud to lead me to whoever left the child here. A child this small, you would think there would be signs of their mother or father being nearby, but there was nothing but muddy puddles around us.  
"Where in the world did you come from?" I asked the child as they cuddled closer, shivering in the cold. I tucked them into my arms, making sure they were secure under my cloak before taking off back towards the village. I could get chewed out for abandoning my mission later, right now there was a more pressing matter to attend to.

* * *

The ANBU outside the Hokage office were surprised to see me back so soon and quickly opened the doors for me. I felt their eyes on me, probably wondering why I didn't have a fugitive in tow, as they closed the doors behind me.  
"Kakashi, what a surprise to see you back so soon." The Third Hokage said as he stood up from his desk. "What do you have there?" He nodded towards the lump under my cloak. I pulled it back, showing him the sleeping baby in my arms.  
I quickly handed him the small bundle, hoping he'd be able to do something about the child. The old man's face softened as he took the child from me, shushing them when they started to fuss. It was like they didn't want to be away from me, and strangely I wanted the child back as well.  
"Kakashi, where did you find her?" He asked, trying to hush them. _Girl, it was a girl…_  
"I found her in the forest sir. There wasn't any sign of her parents and I couldn't leave her out there in this rain. I didn't know what else…" The Sandaime held his hand up to silence me.  
"It's alright; I would have done the same. You did the right thing Kakashi." He said handing her back to me since he couldn't seem to calm her. As soon as she was back in my arms, she quieted down. Her eyes opened for the first time, revealing their purple coloring. She was the cutest thing I had ever seen. It dawned on me that I was beginning to become attached to her. Why was I feeling this way? I couldn't take her in even if I wanted to. I'd never be home with my job and she'd be in constant danger…  
"Kakashi, could you take care of her tonight? We don't have anyone else available for her care." I was shocked by the offer, but answered before my brain even caught up to what was going on.  
"Of course." Why did I say that? If I got too attached…I didn't know what I would do.

* * *

Once home, I set the bag of supplies the Hokage gave me on the table. Everything she would need was apparently in here, but it was only enough for one night. Hopefully by then someone would offer to take her in. I wasn't really the parenting type.  
I dug through the bag and found a bottle and the baby formula to feed her. She'd gotten fussy on the way home and I thought maybe she was hungry. The second I brought it to her mouth, she started to drink like she hadn't eaten in days.  
"Goodness, you're hungry." I chuckled, gently rocking her as she fed. "You eat like my ninken..." She just looked at me with a dazed expression. The bottle was empty within five minutes, which I think may have been a record.  
"You know, I can't just call you kid all night. What should I call you?" I asked her as I patted her back to burp her. It was quite a burp from someone so small, but thankfully nothing came up with it. "How about…Aurora?" I smiled at her from behind my mask as I put her back into the crook of my arm. At this she closed her eyes and drifted to sleep. "I assume that's a yes."  
I carefully got up, not wanting to wake her, to take her upstairs to lay her down. Problem was, the only bed in the house was mine and I was afraid if I put her there with me, I'd squish her. Without even realizing what I was doing, I had made a pillow barrier in the middle of my bed and laid Aurora down on it.  
"Well, that was easy." I yawned and laid down on the other side of the barrier. I watched her sleep for a while, slowly falling in love with how her nose twitched as she slept. Before I knew it, I was asleep as well.

* * *

An hour or so had passed by when a small noise awoke me. Aurora was fussing, near tears, with her little hands balled into fists.  
"Maa, what's…" I didn't finish as the smell hit me. "Ugh...really?" I was not looking forward to this part. I picked her up, holding her away from me and looked for the bag; Only then realizing I didn't bring it with us. _Why didn't I bring the damn bag with me?_ I thought as we quickly made our way down.  
I grabbed a diaper and wipes and started undressing her. The smell alone could have made any ninja run, and with my sensitive nose it was killing me! Gagging on the smell, I quickly started to change her, to find her only outfit was now ruined. I hadn't thought about checking her before, poor thing might have already had a full load and this...was the braking point. I got the idea that maybe a bath was the next step. After doing all I could, I picked up the stink ball, and the damn bag, and headed back up stairs with her. I kind of needed to wash up too now that I think of it. I'm sure I didn't smell all that great either.

  
"Maa, how does a bath sound?" I asked Aurora. Why was I talking to a baby? I asked myself. She couldn't answer me. Maybe I really was losing my mind. I pondered this as the tub filled and came to the conclusion that if this was the descent into madness, I was oddly fine with it.  
Once the water was at the right temperature, I got undressed and got into the tub with her. I laid back, keeping her safely against my chest as I poured a handful of water on her back. The cooing she made had my heart melting.

  
"Oh Aurora, what am I going to do? I can't keep you." I thought out loud as I washed her with a washcloth. "I want to. I'm not sure why, but I feel a connection to you. Hell, I already named you." I felt myself getting too emotional and stopped before I went too far. This feeling was new and brought up a number of different questions. The biggest one, was I really ready to commit to this child and care for her the way I should?

Once clean and dried off, we headed back to my room to find her something to wear. The clothes in the bag I was given were too small for her, so I dug out one of my summer shirts to wrap her in. Why the Third had given me newborn clothing was anyone's guess. Of course, putting her in one of my shirts made me think of her as my own now...  
I laid her back down in her nest of pillows and she immediately went back to sleep. I laid down on the other side, mind racing on what I wanted to do. I wanted to keep her, for reasons I couldn't explain, but I knew it wasn't possible. I covered my face in frustration and held back a groan, not wanting to wake Aurora. She stirred and made a cute little noise again, which broke me completely.  
"That's it, I'm keeping you." I smiled as I looked at her. "You're too cute…"


	2. Chapter 2

Waking up the next morning, I realized a huge problem; Aurora was close to being crushed by me. Luckily she was still fast asleep so I didn't scare her. I really should get her crib, and her own room. My apartment wasn't really made for a family, but then again I hadn't been planning on starting one any time soon. I was still only twenty-four and still in the ANBU. This was an insane idea, taking in a child I only had for a little over a day.  
I sighed as I lay on my back, trying to decide what to do. I could move, but that was a hassle and possibly too expensive. I already had a two story apartment. It was small but manageable. The living room and kitchen were down stairs and I had a large room and a bathroom upstairs.

"What to do…" I thought out loud. That's when I remembered the spare room across the hall. I used it mostly for storage at the moment since it was small, but it'd be perfect for a nursery. I looked over at the sleeping angel and smiled.

"Better get started then…" First thing first, tell the Hokage I was quitting the ANBU.

* * *

I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding in…Why am I so damn nervous!? I sighed and ran my free hand through my hair. I looked at Aurora who was currently chewing on the sleeve of my flak jacket and blissfully unaware of the dilemma I was facing. I shook my head deciding that I was, in fact, being stupid and knocked on the Hokage's door.

"Come in." came the gruff voice of our Lord. This is it. I thought As I pushed the door open. "Ah, Kakashi. I see you brought the little one. Oh my, I see the clothes I gave you must have been the wrong size, my apologies." he chuckled, looking up from the stack of scrolls that were on his desk.

"Ma, I…wanted to talk to you." I didn't even recognize my voice right then and I could tell Sandaime thought I was being out of character.

"Is something wrong?" He asked, motioning for me to take a seat. I cleared my throat and reached back, taking a hold of my ANBU mask. I walked forward to place it on his desk, making the mistake of looking into the dark eye holes of the mask, forcing me to remember all of the things I had done in the past. No! Now is not the time for this. "My Lord, I wish to resign from the ANBU." There, I said it. That wasn't so hard now was it? I told myself.  
To my surprise, he chuckled. "Kakashi, I'm surprised," and here comes the story of why I can't..."That you didn't do this sooner." Wait what?

"Huh?"

"You seem surprised about this?" He stood and walked around the desk towards me. "Let me guess, she changed your mind?" He smiled at Aurora and she smiled back, cooing softly. "My, my, you're much older than I thought, little one. You must have been tired was all." He got her to laugh when he tickled under her chin. "I'd say at least six months, but you are still quite small. You'll have quite a handful with her."

Of course he knew this would happen, which meant he planned on me taking her home. There had been someone to watch her, but he wanted it to be me. It had to be my choice to quit the ANBU and this was his way of pushing it.

"T-thank you my Lord." I bowed my head. Sneaky, old man…

"However Kakashi." He turned away and walked towards the window, putting his hands behind his back as he talked. "This means you have to take on a genin team." _Crap._ I know I had another option, but I really didn't want to retire completely from being a ninja.

"That's fine." Came spilling out of my mouth before I could stop it. Oh well, how hard could the genin brats be? No worse than a baby right?

"Good, good. Your first team will be assigned to you tomorrow. You'll get their names and where you are to meet them in the morning. As for the adoption paperwork, I'll have it sent as soon as possible. You're dismissed."

I blinked in surprise of how curt he suddenly became, but nodded and walked out. "Tomorrow, huh? Eh, that doesn't give me a lot of time…" I still had to find things for Aurora and now I have to find someone to watch her tomorrow.

* * *

"Wonder where you'd find baby things...?" I wondered, looking at Aurora who was currently playing with my button on my vest. First stop was a clothing store for sure. She couldn't stay in my oversized shirt forever. Kurenai just happened to bump into us in the Hokage building, and she gave me all kinds of advice. She also helped me get a list of baby supplies before heading off to her mission. Who knew babies needed so much stuff. Now I just had to find the store she mentioned…  
While looking at the list, I walked numbly through the village, contemplating on who to ask to watch her. How in the world was I going to find someone to watch her on such short…

"Dynamic Entry!" I heard the cry and looked up to see the green clad man about to dive bomb me, from only Kami knows where. I rolled my eyes and moved out of the way. Of course the annoying man's loud call had startled Aurora and she started fussing. He landed on his feet and turned to me giving me a blinding smile.

"Kakashi! My hip and cool rival I…" Gai stopped his talking and pointed at the fussing bundle in my arms. "What in the world is that?!" he yelled, finally pushing Aurora over the edge and causing her to cry. I might add he was the first to make her cry.  
I glared at him with my visible eye. "This? Ma, Gai, this is a baby? Have you never seen one up close before?" I know was being harsh but he'd made her cry.

"Yeah but…why are you holding her?" he then gasped. "ARE YOU A FATHER?!" at this Aurora wailed, making both of my ears ring.

"Gai, please stop yelling...Er..not yet but I guess you could say I'm in the process? And no, I'm not married, nor is she even my biological child. I'm in a hurry, so if you don't mind..." His jaw dropped and he stayed there with his mouth open like that as I walked past him. Then I had one of the worst thoughts to ever come to mind. I turned around the face the green clad man and sighed. "Crazy question, what are you doing tomorrow morning?"

Gai snapped out of his daze and went back to being his usual self. "Tomorrow morning I'm doing one hundred laps around Konoha! After that a hundred push-ups and then…" I held my hand up to stop him right there.

"Would you like to watch Aurora for a few hours?" The moment the words left my mouth I regretted it. Even Aurora thought it was a bad idea and wailed once more.

"Yosh! I would love to my rival, but alas I can't! I have a genin team to hopefully pass!" I thanked whatever god was watching at the moment and gave him a close eyed smile.

"Ma, that's alright. I do as well. Well, I'm off to find someone who can." I waved and started to walk away. He got that stunned look again when he heard I was leading a team.

"Wait! You still have to choose our next challenge. Our score right now is tied! Let us see who is the most youthful!" I really wanted to just teleport home,, but sadly I couldn't. I had a babysitter to find and I needed supplies.

"Fine. How about rock, paper, scissors." I smiled again though I had my teeth gritted together. I thanked kami for my mask.

"Yosh! If I loose I'll do an extra three hundred laps tomorrow during my morning routine!" He said and gave one of his good guy poses. I sighed and held my free hand out. We then counted to three. I choose rock and he chose scissors. He gulped and looked like he was going to cry his 'manly tears.' "Yosh! It seems you win once more! This brings the score to fifty one to fifty!" He gave me one more good guy pose and another yosh before walking off, albeit a little less chipper. After he left Aurora stopped fussing and became her calm, quiet self.

* * *

This store was apparently difficult to find. I had yet to come across it or any store remotely like it.

"Hey Kakashi! Who's little monster?" Asuma smiled as he walked up to me. Apparently today was the day to run into everyone I knew. "She's cute."

"Thanks, hey you know where to get this stuff?" I asked handing him the list while shifting Aurora in my arms. I had to look like an absolute loon walking around with a baby in a giant t-shirt…

Asuma took the list and shrugged. "Beats me." Was all the help he had. I sighed and took the list back. "The grocery stores got baby food and diapers but a crib, sheets and…what else was it? Binkies...sorry wish I knew."

I thanked him anyway, and left him after he pinched Aurora's cheek, making her pout and bury her face into my chest. I already knew he had a mission to go on tomorrow, so I didn't bother to ask if he wanted to watch her. I looked back at the list, deciding to just focus on the basics for now, when I walked into someone.

"Oi, watch where…Kakashi?" I opened my visible eye and saw that I had bumped into Iruka.

"Ma, sorry." I smiled. Iruka looked at me like I had gone mad. He had the right to. I, a jonin, had run straight into Iruka, a chunin. No not just a chunin, but a chunin academy teacher.

"Right…I'll be going." The tan man said, looking me over, pausing for a moment on Aurora, before he walked around me. For the second time today I questioned my sanity and took a lazy hold on Iruka's arm. The look he gave me would make any sane person run, but I wasn't one apparently.

"Ma sensei, I have a question for you. What are you doing tomorrow morning?" He crossed his arms over his chest and glared. Before he could ask why I blurted out, "'Cause I'm in need of someone to watch Aurora." I said and rubbed my hand over her back which caused her to look up at me and then over to the chunin.

"You want me to watch over her?" The unsaid 'you barely know me' was hidden in his tone.  
I gave him a close eyed smile. "I'd be very grateful." Aurora added in then and held out her hands to the tan chunin. Even I was surprised by her behavior. Iruka smiled softly and held out his hand to let her grab onto his index finger.

"Fine, I'll do it. What time and where?"

"Eh, my apartment. I'll send you the address later. Second question for you." Iruka sighed, but let me ask. "Do you happen to know where I can find this stuff?"  
He had it for less than a second and pointed the small store behind me. I nearly face palmed. How did I miss that? The name of the damn place was called My little Akachan.* I felt like an idiot.

"Maa, what do you know..." I tried to play it off, but he saw through it. "See ya." Quickly I walked away from him, leaving the chunin in a cloud of questions.

* * *

I walked into the store and was overwhelmed by the smell of baby powder; even Aurora was surprised and made a face. The place was packed with cribs, baby clothes, toys and some things I wasn't even sure babies actually needed.

"Why hello there!" an all too chipper voice sounded from somewhere in the mess. I turned to the direction and nearly jumped at the sight of a short woman standing near me. "Can I help you?" she asked. She kind of creeped me out, which wasn't easy to do. She had brown hair, that was starting to grey, up in a messy, scraggly bun. The bright pink kimono and neon yellow obi she wore nearly blinded my good eye. To top it off, her glasses obscured her face and made her eyes look like bug eyes. With her short face, it looked like she only had huge eyes. Aurora fussed slightly and tried to get away from her.

"What a cute little angel! Oh, I bet you're here for things for her; let me help you!" The bug lady said dashing around the store gathering things that I needed. I still had the list in hand and yet this woman didn't need it. "There, I think that's everything!" She had a large pile of toys, clothes, bottles, blankets, a mattress, diapers and food and all of it was wheeled inside of a white crib. "And here's a little outfit for her now. A baggy shirt is not suitable for a baby. Shall I ring it up?"  
I was too stunned to do anything but nod. She gleefully rang everything up as I changed Aurora into the lavender onesie the woman handed me. She looked so adorable in it.

* * *

After sealing it all into a scroll to carry it around easier, and me being 5,000 ryo poorer, we headed back towards home. Aurora was fussing softly and kept squirming, making it very hard to keep a hold of her.

"Hush my little caterpillar…" I wasn't sure where the nickname came from, but it kinda fit. "What's wrong?" Luckily there was a bench nearby. I sat down and took out a different scroll which held a pre- made bottle in it. I took it out and she drank nearly all of it as soon as the nipple touched her mouth. "My, you were hungry…" I looked up at the clock tower in the middle of the village square and saw we'd been in that store for much longer than I thought; at least two hours. "No wonder…my apologies. Daddy wasn't thinking." I froze at my own words. Daddy? Was that what I wanted to be called?  
Quickly, I stood up and wrapped us home so I could have a crisis there and not in the middle of town.

* * *

Once we were safe at home, I sat with Aurora in my lap and had my crisis on the living room floor. I was a dad now...right? I mean of course adopting her would make me one, but why did it just hit me? Can I do this? I haven't finalized anything yet, so I could go back on it all if I wanted to.  
I took out the scroll that held everything Aurora needed. Well, I've come this far, so there was no going back now. The task at hand now was to clean out the spare room for her.  
"Alright then." I sighed, laying Aurora on a small blanket on the floor. "Daddy needs to do some things caterpillar. Stay here and behave." I teased her., still unsure if I wanted to be called daddy. She responded by kicking her legs and waving her hands. I laughed, letting her take my finger. Maybe I was overthinking everything after all. I mean, how hard could raising a kid be?

* * *

I walked into the spare room and sighed at the mess. There were weapons scattered everywhere, broken spears and a mannequin with no head or arms and half a left leg. Most of the stuff in here was broken so it went into the trash. What was usable would go into a box to be stored in my closet. It didn't take long to clean up the mess in the room, but once I opened the closet chaos ensued.  
The contents of the closet came tumbling out, spilling onto the floor. It was packed with bags full of medical equipment, kunai and knives. I had wondered where I put all of that stuff and now I knew. I gathered the fallen items and sorted them out across the floor. Now I remember why I started sorting and storing them separately in bags; it was much easier to keep track of. Once that was done, it made it simple to seal it away in a scroll. Why hadn't I done this sooner?  
Everything was out and now all I had to do was get the scroll with the baby stuff and set up Aurora's room.

"Oh fuck!" For a moment I panicked when I realized, I'd been up here for an hour! I ran down the stairs only to find her playing with her sock. She was attempting to pull it off but couldn't control her hand or foot and ended up having her hand slip each time. I smiled to myself and shook my head. What did I expect a baby to do? Especially one that couldn't even walk yet.

"You are so cute my caterpillar. And one day my little one, you will blossom into a beautiful butterfly. I can't wait to watch that transformation." I said as I kissed her forehead.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter won't go into too much detail about Kakashi's first Genin team, nor will it be too terribly long. Sorry guys.

That was horrible! Who was teaching these genin?! They had no idea what team work was! I kicked the ground in frustration and growled causing the few people around me to back off even further.  
I looked up at them sheepishly but didn't give them a verbal apology. It wasn't their fault I was angry at the youth of this village.  
I unlocked my door and entered my apartment. Though I guess it would be more of a duplex seeing as it looked somewhat like a house but split into two halves. The first thing I noticed was the silence in the house. Aurora wasn't crying so that was a good sign but she also wasn't making any happy noises. I heard a noise upstairs and quickly ascended, taking them two at a time. I turned the corner to my room and saw the sweetest thing.  
Iruka was rocking Aurora in his arms and humming softly. I could only see her foot dangling from his arms since his back was to me. She was obviously asleep, or close to it, since she wasn't cooing up at him. I smiled and leaned against the door frame, deciding I would just be quiet and watch the interaction.  
Iruka froze after a moment, shifted Aurora to one arm and quickly spun around to look at me. "Kami Kakashi…you scared me." He whispered and breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought….I don't know…ugh, next time left me know you're home." The tan man glared.  
I chuckled and pushed myself away from the door frame and walked towards the chunin. "Ma, sensei I couldn't help it. You looked so adorable holding and singing to my little caterpillar." His cheeks turned a little pink and he scratched at his nose nervously. Cute.  
"Still, you should know better than sneaking up on a shinobi." The tan chunin half heartedly glared at me as he laid the sleeping baby into her crib. I shrugged and gave him a close eyed smile. "Well, if that's all you needed me for…" Iruka said and put his hands into his pockets awkwardly.  
"Yeah…thank you again for looking after Aurora on such short notice." I scratched the back of my head. A nervous tick of my own I guess. Iruka hummed and nodded as he walked past me towards the stairs. Deciding it would be rude to let him just leave without walking him to the door I followed.  
"Anytime Kakashi." Iruka smiled back at me as the got to the landing.

Once he left I sighed and locked the door. Before leaving this morning to meet my chunin team that spastically failed I went to the hardware store and got some paint. Pulling out the scroll I had sealed it into I went back up stairs but headed instead into Aurora's room. I turned the light on but it was dimmed due to the dark color on the walls. I hoped the light lavender color of the new paint would make this room less dungeon-y looking and more like a child's bedroom.


	4. Chapter 4

The days past by faster than I could have imagined, turning to years before I had caught up. Aurora had grown into a very energetic two year old and always seeming to have something to talk about. She was clever and incredibly smart for her age. I might have had some hand in teaching her a few things, that now in hindsight might not have been a great idea, like opening doors when she was one. I did not teach her how to arrange the drawers in the kitchen to get onto the counters though, which had been the lesson to learn on my part. Smaller children were far smarter than I thought.

Currently she was working on how to open the sliding door to the back yard. That was the old door she had yet to master since it was a sliding glass door. She wasn't quite strong enough to pull it, but she figured out the latch on it. Guess I had to set up an alarm on this one now too.

"Aurora, what are you doing?" I asked from behind her, causing her to jump a bit.

"Outside!" she demanded and pointed out the window. She also developed an attitude, which I blamed on Iruka. He'd watched her a couple times over the years, but it seemed to be enough to rub off on her.

"No, not right now, Daddy has work to do. I promise I will play when it's done." I sighed. I was dealing with yet another genin team. Though this one I actually passed and was working on the mission reports we had. I really liked this team so far; they showed great promise with the few missions we had completed. Now the blonde one, Naruto, was complaining that they were all too easy. Brat had no idea what real missions entailed.

"No, out!" she whined and pulled at the door. "Pwease!" she pouted and looked up at me with teary purple eyes. I sighed and picked her up. "Come on, why don't we finger paint." I said setting her at the kitchen table and getting paper and paint for her out of the closet. She grinned and begin happily painting. Sighing, I sat across from her and got to work on the overdue reports.

"Looky!" she cheered about ten minutes later. I looked up and gasped. She was covered in paint; her hair, her clothing and her skin. I nearly face palmed at not thinking about that fact. "It me and you." She beamed. At least it didn't look like she had tried to eat any of the paint.

"Oh…wow, caterpillar…it's…beautiful." I said finally looking at the picture. It consisted of a green, blue and white blob and an orange and purple blob. "Is that me?" I asked pointing to the greenish one. I assumed the orange and purple would be her because of her red hair and purple eye color. Though why she didn't add in her, once, yellow dress into the picture was beyond me.

"Uh huh!" Her smile widened, her face becoming a giant smile. "Dat's you and dats me! It for you fader."

"Aw thank you sweetie." I smiled, forgetting momentarily about the mess she made and how hard it was going to be to make her not look like a walking 'modern art' piece. She may be a challenge, but she was sweet.

* * *

"Come on old man! Give us something more challenging!" Naruto shouted in the mission room. Again Naruto was complaining about a mission. I will admit babysitting was a bit too easy, even for three genin. If the three of them could take Aurora on, they could take on pretty much any child. She had to come along on some of their missions and the three of them took it upon themselves to make sure she was safe during them. No one told them too, they just watched her and did their mission, which was impressive.

She'd tagged along today too, sticking to Sasuke like glue on the way here. He seemed to attract the attention of the two year old just like he did with every other girl, but I doubted she liked him like his fangirls did. Of course this caused Naruto to get irritated and tried to gain her attention, but it set off Aurora's sass too. The look on the blondes face when she said he was being creepy was one I'd never forget.

"Chasing a cat, washing dishes…how are these missions?!" Naruto was still on his rant.

"Naruto, all missions are important…" Lord Hokage said going off on a political rant that I spaced off on. I was thinking about how much crap I was going to get from Iruka for asking him to babysit last minute, again. He might have guessed it, since he was here too, telling Naruto that he was being ridiculous. I tried to make eye contact with him, but the look on his face told me I had just missed an important part of the conversation.

"Hear that?! We get to do a C ranked mission, believe it!" I heard Naruto cheer, pulling me out of my thoughts. Both Sakura and Sasuke sighed at Naruto. I sweat dropped and wondered how that had happened. When did Sandaime come up with the C-ranked mission? And how long would I need Iruka to look after Aurora this time? Usually it was only for a few hours.

"Your mission will be to escort Tazuna back to his home land, the land of waves." Lord Hokage stated. "Come in Tazuna." At that moment a drunken old man opened the door and stepped in.

"You're trusting my life with a bunch of brats?" Was the first statement out of the mans, Tazun's, mouth. I knew what was going to happen and grabbed Naruto, covering his mouth so no smart ass comments would come out.

"Nice to meet you…"

* * *

I figured cornering him after his shift would be the right time, but he was still upset over everything and lashed out on me. At least Aurora was asleep in my arms and didn't hear what he said.

"Bastard! You didn't even try to stop this from happening!" Iruka yelled, clearly pissed I didn't fight the C-rank mission.

"I'm sorry, I can't stop them at this point." I said putting my hand up in an innocent way. "But I have a favor to ask."

"Oh don't give me that bullshit!" He growled. His face was bright red with anger at this point and I was scared to ask him to watch over Aurora while on my trip. He took a deep breath, letting it go. "Fine…what now?" he asked, crossing his arms.

"Well…my team and I have a mission." He wasn't amused by my stalling, but it was fun for me. To my surprise, he did smile, but there was something sinister about it.

"Want me to watch over your little angel? Alright." Iruka was being way too nice. "You owe me." He smirked. I gulped at that. I knew he had a reputation for making life a living hell if you didn't pay him back. And yeah I had experienced it a few times already, he was ruthless in his own ways.

"Alright, name your price."

"Let me think it over. Have fun on your mission." He kept that smirk as he walked past us. "I'll meet you at your place in an hour to drop her off." He waved, leaving me to wonder what he had planned.

* * *

While I was shuffling around I must have disturbed Aurora in her room and was a bit startled by a small yawn behind me. I had laid her down just a few minutes ago, but I seemed to have woke her up.

"What are you doin'?" she asked as she rubbed her eyes. Her shoulder length copper hair was a tangled mess. She needed another bath before I left, the paint for earlier today was still making her cheeks look blue. Iruka might get the wrong idea and think she was sick.

"Getting ready for a mission sweetie." I smiled at her and turned back to finish packing.

"I want to come!" Aurora brightened up, but pouted, already knowing that she couldn't go with us this time.

"No Aurora, this is work daddy has to do." I said kissing the crown of her head. "Iruka will babysit you though." Though I wasn't sure how much I wanted him too seeing as he threatened me.

"Yay!" She cheered. She, for whatever reason, adored Iruka. I found him bland, rude at times, and a bit boring, but he was good with kids. Though he did have quite the temper and that was fun to mess with, too a point, and at times I found him cute. I shook my head to get those thoughts out of my head.  
When I turned around I saw Iruka in the doorway with his hand on top of Aurora's head. It threw me off for a second, but I remembered he did have a key now, since he watched her. He was brushing his fingers in her hair affectionately. "Well, are you all packed? Oh and do you mind if Aurora stays with me at my place. Seeing as you'll be gone for quite sometime I'd feel more comfortable there." _So what was the point of meeting here?_

I nodded. "That's fine." There was something in the way the chunin spoke to me that made me shudder. He was still really pissed off at me. "I can help pack up for her..,"

"No need. I got it." The tanned chunin cut me off and walked off to Aurora's room. Yeah I was going to get it when I got home.

"Why is Uka mad?" Oh great, even my caterpillar caught on to it. I ruffled her hair making it even messier and chose not to answer her.

"Well, I must be off." I called to him with a smile and got out of there before he had the chance to kill me.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to assume that people have seen the fight in the Village Hidden in the Waves and don't need to retell a story that you can watch or read ok? This is Kakashi's view still and it's after Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura have gone back home but Kakashi is wondering about a bit. Enjoy!

I sighed to myself and looked up to the sky. It was about two in the afternoon by now. My team and I got back about a half hour ago but I didn't want to go home just yet. One reason was Iruka was waiting for me and was going to make my life a living hell. The other was because something about the boy, Haku, was bothering me. Why did he seem familiar? He shouldn't have, I've never met him before then. Something about the way he looked…

I was also wrapped up on something else, concerning who was going to take care of Aurora should anything happen to me. My thoughts haulted when a blur of black and white landed in front of me.

"Kakashi-san, Lord Hokage wants to see you." The ANBU in a tiger mask told me, before disappearing once again. I sighed, wondering what in the world he wanted.

* * *

Before I could even knock, the door burst open and an angry looking kunoichi walked out in a huff. "Kakashi, just the man I wanted to see." Sandaime smiled at me and acted like nothing had happened. I nodded and moved into the center of the room, wondering what was going on.

"What is it that you needed me for?" I gave him my best bored look, even though I was suddenly worried that something may have happened to Aurora or Iruka.

"I wanted to talk to you about Aurora." He said as he lit his smoking pipe and took a drag from it before talking. "The night you found her, you said there was no one around her correct?" a puff of smoke leaving his mouth as he spoke.

"Yes sir. Due to the rain, I wasn't able to find any footprints." Now he had me even more worried. What the hell was going on?

"Mmm…" he closed his eyes for a moment. "I sent a few ANBU out to see what they could find when you returned. They found a young woman's body and another body, but we were only able to confirm that the body was male." He opened his eyes again; his gaze was intense and made me uncomfortable. "We were able to do some tests on them and found out that the woman was from the Yuki clan and the man was from the Hōzuki clan. We need you to bring Aurora in to confirm a theory we have."

I was shocked at hearing this information. "My Lord if I may ask, why are you telling me this now? Why didn't you tell me you may have found her parents before?" my words came out harsher than intended.

He chuckled, taking another drag from his pipe. "I wanted to, but I had to contact the Mizukage and get an old blood sample from someone in the Yuki clan and Hōzuki clan to confirm our findings. It took much longer than intended."

Hearing this made me relax a bit. At least he wasn't intentionally hiding this information from me. "Understood."

"Hn. Please retrieve your daughter as quick as possible. You're dismissed Kakashi." Sandaime smiled.

* * *

I was just about to open the door when I realized, Aurora wasn't at my house she was at Iruka's, which was in the opposite direction. I mentally kicked myself and quickly turned around. I had been thinking about the boy, Haku. The boy... _Yuki!_ Wait a second. _Is that why I thought he looked familiar?_ I thought to myself. I continued to mentally compare Aurora to Haku. They had similar facial structures, though since she's two it was kind of hard to tell, but I could see it. From what I can remember of the young boy, their eyes were the same shape as well. Maybe she really was a Yuki, but a Hōzuki as well? Those bloodlines where two of the strongest in the Mist village, but both were thought to have been killed off during the Third Mizukage's reign. If they really were who they said they were, it was no wonder they ran, but why here? Why not the Village Hidden in the Clouds? I know it was a little further but wouldn't it have been slightly safer, seeing as the village is located right at the ocean?

While I was lost in my thoughts, again, I had wondered up to Iruka's apartment complex. I saw that there were people in front of the building and didn't want to confront them, so I decided that I'd find Iruka's window. It wasn't hard since the teacher had left his window open and I could hear his voice which was right above me at about the third floor level. Thankfully it had a large tree right in front of it. I climbed up it and peeked in, making sure he didn't have the chance to see me and kill me on sight.  
I had to smile when I saw Aurora sitting on his lap. He had a book held in his hands and was reading to her, but I couldn't make out what the title on the cover was. It was cute but, not as cute as it had been two years ago when he had been holding her and singing to her as she fell asleep.

"Kakashi, I know you're there. Just come in already." The chunin sighed and shut the book. Aurora's eyes lit up when he said my name.

"Ma, sensei, I was enjoying your story." I smiled as I hopped through the window. "Please continue." Iruka rolled his eyes at me.

"Daddy!" Aurora cheered, climbed off Iruka's lap and ran to me. I knelt down and wrapped my arms around her. I didn't realize how much I had really missed her until she was in my arms.

"Hey caterpillar. Did you have fun?" I said as I released her from my hold and looked her in the eyes. I was taking in her features, comparing them to Haku and found them to be almost identical. I was also trying to ignore the death glare I was receiving from the tanned man behind her. I knew I had been gone far too long, but I didn't know this C-ranked was going to turn into an A-ranked so fast. Maybe I should have sent him a letter letting him know…

"Uhuh!" Aurora beamed, unaware of the tension in the air. "We did all forts of things." I was going to miss when she grew out of her baby talk. I smiled and just listened to her accounts of the week she had with her 'Uka.' They painted, he taught her what chakra was, I was surprised she had caught on to what it was, and other things that were difficult to decipher, but I think it was mostly coloring and something about ramen.

"Aurora why don't you go get your things gathered up." Iruka said through gritted teeth. The look on her face told me she had witnessed his strict teacher side at some point during the week and she ran off to do what she was told. The moment she was gone Iruka descended upon me and back me up to the wall. "A whole week Kakashi!? You said this was a C-ranked and C-ranked only take a few days tops!" He was yelling, but it was just above a whisper.

"I'm sorry. I had no idea it would turn into an A-ranked." I should have lied, but his tone told me I shouldn't tell any kind of lies or I might be castrated on the spot. Before I could continue, he held his hand up.

"Hold on a second! You took my former students on an A-ranked mission?! How could you do something so irresponsible?!" Now he was yelling at me and didn't seem to care how loud he was.

"Ma, that's not what I said. I said it was a C-ranked but it became an A-ranked during the mission. No one was hurt." Too badly. I silently added.  
Iruka pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "And you didn't come back why?"

"I told them we should, but all three of them said they could handle it. You should have seen Naruto vowing to do this mission over the wound he got during the first hour." Once more I cursed myself for not being able to filter myself. The shade of red the chunin's face turned couldn't be healthy.

"YOU LET HIM GET INJURED!?" I swear the whole complex shook. "Damn it Kakashi I didn't think I was possible for you too…" He stopped when Aurora rounded the corner and looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

"I'm weady…" she said timidly. She had a small backpack over her shoulders and was holding a blue, yellow and green bunny that looked new. I wondered how she'd suckered Iruka into getting it for her. She didn't really have too many toys since she seemed to like to color more than anything so I wasn't going to be mad about it. It was sweet he cared for her so much.

"Alright sweetie. Well Iruka, I thank you again for taking care of her." I said and walked away from the wall I had been backed against. "Oh I almost forgot. What is it that I owe you?" Iruka had a red tint in his face, but it wasn't from anger, it seemed to be more from embarrassment than anything. I think it was because he'd managed to scare Aurora.

"Ah…just take me out for ramen sometime and we'll call it even." He said rubbing at the scar across his nose. I gave him a close eyed smile and held out my hand for Aurora to take, which she did far too quickly. I think Iruka's outburst scared her more than I thought.

* * *

"Fader, don't we live that way?" she pointed behind us with her right hand. "Why are we goi' the wong way?"

"The Hokage wants to meet you." I smiled down at her. It wasn't a complete lie; he did want to see her, but only because of her possible bloodline. She didn't look excited by this though.

"D-did I do something wong?" she asked, her eyes taking on a bit of a frightened look.

"No, no caterpillar." I stopped and knelt down to scoop her up. "You're not in trouble at all. He just wants to see how much you've grown is all." She smiled at me and wrapped her little arms around my neck as best she could.  
"'Kay." She said into my neck. "But why fader?"  
"I don't know." I said and started walking again towards the Hokage tower. I did know, but I wasn't going to tell that they were going to take a blood sample from her.

* * *

"Ah, that was fast Kakashi." Sandaime smiled aa he stood and walked towards us. "My have you grown! How old are you now?"  
Aurora had had her face buried in my flak jacket, peeking up and quietly answered, "Two." before burying her face once more. I didn't know she could be so shy. He chuckled and motioned for me to follow him.

I followed him down the hall a little ways and was lead into a smaller room that seemed to be a small medical office. Aurora's eyes widened, looking up at me with a look that sent guilt right through me. She looked at me as if I had betrayed her, which I kind of had. I rubbed her back in what I thought to be a soothing manner to try and calm her down.

"This the patient Hokage-sama?" a medical nin known as Hōshō asked. If he wasn't wearing his medical ninja outfit, Aurora might have been ok with him, but with the outfit on she was terrified and I felt bad for the stuffed bunny she had held in a vice like grip. If she kept that hold on it, the thing soon wouldn't have a head.  
Hōshō started to walk forward and the tears started to flow.

"Daddy I'm scared!" she sobbed and cried against my chest. Damn it…I hadn't meant this to scare her. Even the Hokage gave her a sympathetic look.  
Hōshō gave a kind smile, one that reminded me of Iruka. Maybe he would be able to help me calm her down. "Hey there, I'm not going to hurt you ok?" he said, but holding a syringe wasn't helping that fact. "All we want from you is a little bit of your blood to find out if you're healthy." I knew he was lying, but it was my job to tell her about her real parents later, not his.

Still crying, she peeked up at him. "B-blood?" she tensed and snuggled closer to me in an effort to get away. "No!"  
Hōshō gave me an apologetic look. "I'm sorry to ask this but…we do need to do this. I'm… I'm going to have to ask you to hold her down." I wanted to punch him for saying that, but he was right. We did need to know if she was related to the two people, or what was left of one, but why in the world did they need a whole vial of her blood? _Why not just a finger prick? It was a DNA test ,right?_

I sighed and moved to sit in a chair near the counter where all of the medical equipment was, shifted Aurora in my lap to hold her better, and held out her arm. Somewhere in the process the bunny got dropped, which was what was keeping her from completely freaking out. The moment the bunny hit the floor, the crying and whiling started. This was only the second time in her life she had screamed so loud it made my ears ring.

* * *

Finally that whole fiasco was over. Hōshō gave her a sucker, which cheered her up a bit but it didn't help the headache I had from her screaming in my ear. We were finally home though. The sky was getting dark by this point and all I really wanted to do was just go to bed. As soon as I shut the door Aurora looked up at me.

"Fader…why did they wants my blood?" she asked through the sucker in her mouth.

"Well sweetie…I need to tell you something." I said as I set her down. She held her bunny tightly against her chest and seemed worried I was going to make her go back to the doctor. I chuckled and knelt down. "No you're not going to the doctor again." She relisted the grip on her bunny and smiled. "You see, you're not…sweetie you're adopted." She tilted her head to the side in a confused way.

"What's adopted?" she asked and she sat herself on my knee.

"It means you're not my real daughter, but that doesn't mean I love you any less ok?" I ran my hand through her copper colored hair and smiled at her. "The reason they took your blood was to see if they found your real parents." I had no idea if she understood any of this.

"Oh." Was all she said. "Hey fader, why does you wear a mask?" Nope, she didn't get any of it. At least she seemed to understand that it didn't matter if she was my blood or not.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next few chapters are going to be just fun and silly. They won't be following the story line of Naruto at all so don't be mad at me for it.

I couldn't sleep. Every time I tried, all I could see was Aurora crying because I was gone. Crying for her father, but I wasn't there because I had some how ended up getting killed on a mission. I know it was stupid to think, but it was a possibility in my line of work. I groaned and scrubbed a hand through my hair in irritation, deciding maybe I should do something productive. I threw the covers off of myself and begrudgingly got up.

I decided to make sure that my rustling about hadn't disturbed Aurora and peeked into her room. Even thought there were rails on her new 'big girl' bed to keep her from falling off, I still worried she would fall and found myself checking on her almost every night, even if I wasn't having trouble sleeping. Luckily she was sleeping peacefully with the little bunny Iruka had gotten her clutched in her arms and wasn't on the floor like I had stupidly feared.

I ended up downstairs twenty minutes later with a cup of tea and a note pad. I had decided the most productive thing to do at the moment was to write down names of possible god parents for Aurora. I sighed and absent mindedly chewed on the pen cap. The first person that came to mind of course was Iruka, but did I really want to bother him with that right now? The answer was no. The chunin was still pissed at me for leaving him with Aurora for a whole week. Next was Gai. _Why?_ I asked myself and the only answer was because if he found out I was asking everyone but him, I'd get to deal with his 'manly tears of…'whatever they were about, and wouldn't hear the end of it until I gave him a chance. He would be first only because I doubted he would win the title of Aurora's god father. After that the list was pretty easy. It went from Gai to Asume, Kurenai , Anko, Tenzō, Yūgao, and last Iruka. Most of them on my list I had no idea if they'd be trust worthy but they were the only one's I could think of. After I got this down I finally felt tired and was able to go to bed.

* * *

Aurora was excited today, but only because she thought she was going to see Iruka. I had told her I had a mission with my team, a D-ranked this time, and she took it as spending the day with her favorite chunin. Little did she know I was dropping her off at Gai's place for the day. I had called him earlier and he was more than happy looking after her. At least I think he was. I couldn't really understand everything over the phone, but he sounded excited.

"Fader, where are we?" she asked. She'd finally figured out that we were not, in fact, going to Iruka's. We were going the wrong way for that.

"You remember Gai right?" I watched her eyes widen and knew she remembered Konaha's green beast. "You'll be staying with him for a few hours."

"But…" she pouted a bit, but stopped when I gave her a look that said, 'I don't want to hear about it.' I wanted to do this about as much as she wanted to stay with him.  
I knocked on the door and only had to wait a few seconds before the door burst open and reveled the one and only Might Gai.

"Kakashi my hip and cool rival!" He beamed. I felt Aurora clutch the fabric on my left pant leg as she hid behind me. "We're is the little angel?!"

I put my hand on top of Aurora's head and gently pushed her back around my leg and had her stand beside me. She was shaking slightly. I felt really bad for having to do this to her, but I had no choice. The only way to find out who would be perfect to be her god parent was to test each one on the list, and the only way to do that was to have each of them babysit her.

* * *

The mission luckily was going pretty fast. Naruto of course complained at first, but I told him if he shut up and got the job done fast enough, I'd reward them. He quickly stopped him complaining and starting helping Sasuke and Sakura. This of course gave me time to figure out how to ask the others on my list to babysit. Kurenai of course would love to since she loved children and if she was looking after Aurora, Asuma would be too; so both could be tested at the same time. Anko worried me though. She was known to be very inappropriate and for the most part kept away from children at all costs, but she was to be at least considered because I knew deep down she liked kids. She just didn't know the right ways to behave around them. Tenzō I could bribe into babysitting if I had to, but I knew he'd like to look after her. He'd only seen her once, when she was just a baby, and very briefly because he had to tell me we had a mission. Yūgao I knew would be more than happy to as well, but with her being in ANBU still would be difficult. I'd just have to catch her on a day off. Last was Iruka and I already knew he was a pretty good candidate.

"Kakashi-sensei we're done!" The obnoxious blonde sang out from the middle of the river and pulling me out of my thoughts. I looked up from my Ichi Ichi book, that I hadn't even been reading, and noticed that all three of them had their trash packs full.

"Good to hear. Now, shall we go?" I closed my book with a snap and stood up from where I had been sitting on the edge of the river.

"You promised use ramen!" Naruto cried and pointed an accusing finger in my direction.

"Ma, I never said that. I said a reward. And that reward is getting to go home early." The look on the boys face was priceless. "See ya!" I said and poofed away in a cloud of smoke before he or the other two could say anything.

* * *

I had teleported in front of Gai's house and the sounds coming from inside were not ones I wanted to hear. Aurora was crying and from the sound of it Gai was trying to get her to calm down. I hoped she hadn't been doing this since I had left, other wise she'd have been crying for about two hours. I knocked a couple of times, but they went unheard over Aurora's screams. Against my best judgment I opened the door and was immediately flattened by a green blur.

"Oh it's you!" Gai smiled down at me and removed the kunai he had against my throat as he stood up. "I didn't expect you to be back so soon! Aurora, you're father is here!"

"Daddy!" I heard her giggle and she jumped on to my chest. I then realized Aurora hadn't been crying, she had been laughing and Guy had been playing with her. That was something that I hadn't seen coming.

"Ma, I see you two had fun." Looking into Gai's apartment I saw the place was covered is little drawings, flour for some reason, and it looked like they had made paper bag puppets that where lying on the floor. Seemed Gai had dropped them when he went to attack the 'intruder.'

"That we did!" Gai boomed as he grabbed Aurora and picked her up, throwing the giggling two year old on to his shoulder. "We made play dough!" he seemed far too proud about that, but I didn't comment. That would explain the flour everywhere.

"Ma, I see." I stood up upon being freed from Aurora. "You ready to go?" I asked the currently upside down red head on Gai's shoulder. She pouted, but nodded.

* * *

The whole way home I heard all about the adventures she'd had at Gai's place. She had colored for a while before Gai suggested they do something else. They made play dough, like Gai said they had, but apparently he'd mixed the ingredients so 'passionately' that they went everywhere. Then Gai had found little paper bags and they had made paper puppets which is what they were playing with when I got there.  
"It was fun!" She exclaimed. Maybe I'd have to reconsider Gai and put him back on the list of being her possible god father.


	7. Chapter 7

The day Aurora spent with Anko went just as I thought it would. Not only did she not interact with Aurora, by letting her watch movies for most of the day, but she also had had inappropriate conversations over the phone with someone. On the way home, all Aurora asked was where babies come from, what boobs where and other things I rather not repeat. She was waiting for an answer and looking up at me expectantly.

"Maa…when a man and woman…love each other very much they…summon a stork and the stork delivers their baby." I lied, but I wasn't about to give the talk to a two year old and defiantly not in a crowded street.

"Oh…but Ko was talkin' 'bout kitties." She struggled a bit with Anko's name, but I though it was cute. Though I knew what she meant and Anko was not talking about kitties.

"Uh, maybe her friend got a new kitty." I was seriously going to kill Anko and this defiantly took her off the list of god parent possibilities. I hoped that tomorrow with Asuma and Kurenai would go better than this.

* * *

After I dropped Aurora off at Kurenai's, I still had time to kill before I met with my team. In this case, killing time was finding Tenzō and asking him to watch Aurora in the next few days. I had a Jonin mission then, without my genin team, and needed someone to watch her; I had also checked his schedule and made sure he didn't have any missions so I knew he could. I had looked at Yūgao's files first, but she had back to back missions which forced me to cross her off the list. If she was too busy with missions, she was too busy to take care of a child.

I would normally go through his window, but I decided against it since he had just come back from a grueling ANBU mission; He might still be a little on edge. Instead I knocked on his door and waited. I heard him stumble around, knock something over and mutter some profanities before the door finally opened.

"Kakashi-sempai?" he was a little disheveled and looked like he had just woken up.

"Maa, you seem surprised." I'm sure he was. "I have a question for you."

"Is something wrong?" he asked as he stifled a yawn.

"No, no. I was wondering if you could watch Aurora for me on Thursday. I have a mission and no one to watch her." That wasn't true. I had Iruka, but no way was I leaving her there right now. He still seemed angry at me from last time and that was over two weeks ago.

"I…uh…sure." Tenzō seemed taken back from the request. "But, why me?"

"Well, I checked your schedule and you seemed to be off for the next week…" I trailed off and left him to fill in the blanks. Of course the look on his face told me he wasn't happy to hear about me going through his things again, but what else was I going to do? I couldn't ask him and he couldn't answer even if he wanted. It was an ANBU thing.

"Well if everything is in order, I'll see you Thursday." I gave him an eye smile, waved and left him standing there in his pajamas looking like an idiot.

* * *

The D- ranked mission went well, but of course Naruto had apparently complained to Iruka that I did not take them all to ramen as promised, and sadly found myself there at Ichiraku by force. Iruka wasn't there since school was still in session, but he had found me when he was on break and told me to take the kids there. He hadn't said it in a threatening tone, but I didn't want to find out what he would do if I had refused them a second time. I just hoped Asuma and Kurenai would understand.

"Ma, I brought you guys here ok? What more do you want?" I asked them. All three of there were staring at me as if they wanted something. Naruto and Sakura had huge expectant eyes while Sasuke just had a blank look on his face. _Oh I see, they want to see what's under my mask. Tsh, them and everyone else._ "Teuchi-san, could you make my order to go and add a two more and a child's ramen? I'm in a bit of a hurry." There was no way I was letting my students see my face that easily. I wanted to see how well they could work together in order to accomplish this.

I gave them a sideways glance. Naruto looked mad, Sakura had a hand over her face and Sasuke was now looking at the counter angerly. Surves you three right.

* * *

Once the three trouble makers where done and had left I was finally free to rescue Asuma and Kurenai from the red headed terror. I say this only because apparently an hour after I left she threw a tantrum. I apologized and was glad I thought to get them ramen.

"Ma, sorry about that…she's been doing that lately." I said as I handed them ramen. "Thought it's normally just with me."  
Kurenai waved it off. "It's fine. She's in that stage of life." She smiled softly.

"It's called the terrible twos for a reason Kakashi." Asuma laughed. "Besides, she cried herself to sleep about a half hour ago. I think she was just tired."  
I nodded. "Most likely. So where is she now? I can go ahead and take her off your hands." I smiled.

Asuma nodded his head towards the hall. "She's in the bedroom now. Door on your left."

I nodded again and headed towards the bedroom. There I saw Aurora, curled into a ball with her bunny in her arms and one of its ears in her mouth. I smiled and scooped her up. This caused her to stir but she settled back down and fell back to sleep in my arms. As I walked back out I thanked them again and headed out the door. The last thing I heard was Asuma cracking a joke about how cute Aurora was when she was asleep. Both of them were defiantly staying on the list.

* * *

As I was packing for my mission, Aurora started to kick the wall in her room. She was in time-out for not eating her vegetables during lunch. I really felt back for having to drop her off at Tenzō's in an hour if she was going to act like this while I was gone.

"Aurora enough!" I called out and pinched the bridge of my nose as she screamed at the top of her lungs. Then again I'll be interested to see how he handles her when she's like this.

As calmly as I could, I walked over to her door, pulled it opened and sighed. She was face down on the floor crying, her feet right by the wall so she could kick it.

"You done?" I asked her, but she just made a noise that sounded like 'No' and continued to cry. "Want to tell me why you're so upset?" I knelt down beside her and ran my hand through her hair. She said something, but it was muffled by the floor. "I can't hear you. Sit up please."  
She looked up, rubbed her eyes and said. "Don't go…" it broke my heart to hear those words but I had no choice. I really like the house we lived in and intended to keep it, but I had to pay for it some how. "I wants to say wif you. I don't want to live wif someone else."

"Come here caterpillar." I sat cross-legged and held my arms out to her. She crawled into my lap and laid her head against my chest. I held her close and ran my fingers through her soft hair. "You're not going to live with someone else. There's just a lot of missions lately. I'll be back before dinner ok? I promise." I kissed the crown of her head. She looked up at me with tears still in her eyes. If I had known my leaving was affecting her this way I would have never kept moving her around from sitter to sitter. Now for some reason she had it in her little mind that I was trying to get rid of her. This would be the last time I switched it up. I would make my decision as soon as I got back.

* * *

Tenzō was delighted to see Aurora. He hadn't seen her since she was a baby and was surprised by how much she'd grown.

"How old are you now, huh?" he asked her as she hid behind my leg. I wondered how he could be so happy at this ungodly hour. The sun was just coming up for gods sake!

"Two." She said in a soft, tired voice. Tenzō chuckled and ruffled her hair. She pouted and clung closer to me.

"Ma, I should be back just after sundown." I said and handed him a bag with all of her stuff. "Oh, and she is in the middle of potty training. She gets a sticker if she goes." I smiled at his slightly mortified look. I had, of course, told this to everyone else and the only other one to give me that look was Anko. I knew though he was just scared about having to do it, unlike Anko who just down right refused.

"R-right. We can do that." He cleared his throat and smiled. "Good luck on your mission sempai."

I nodded, removed Aurora's hands from my pant leg and knelt down to her level. "You be good ok?" I smiled at her and kissed her nose. She giggled at the tickling sensation my mask made against her skin.

* * *

The mission went off without a hitch ,all though I was dead tired and wanted noting more than to go home and sleep. I knew Aurora would be tired, but the effort of having to put her to bed made me groan. She never wanted to go to sleep.

I knocked on the door and Tenzō answered the door immediately. The look he gave me told me I shouldn't let Aurora see me.

"Sempai, your arm is bleeding." Was all he said. I looked down towards where he was looking and saw that my left bicep was in fact bleeding.

"Ah, well, I guess they got me." I shrugged.

"Come on, let's get you cleaned up…" Tenzō sighed as he moved from the door way to allow me inside. I blindly followed him to the bathroom so he could help patch me up. I was too tired to even notice that my daughter was asleep on the couch until Tenzō said something.

"Don't worry, she's been out for about fifteen minutes. I even dropped a glass and she didn't even flinch." He smiled and nodded his head towards the sleeping form. I noticed that she also had a new doll. She was wooden with red hair and green eyes and had a little pink dress on, all of course made of wood. Gee I wonder who gave her that.

"Ma, I see. Tired her out huh?" I smiled as he had me sit on the side of the tub.

"Yeah…we colored, made puppets, watched a movie, you name it we did it." He joked. "I hope you don't mind, but I made a doll for her. She wanted a friend for her bunny."

"No, I don't mind. She has a name for it I assume?" I took my shirt off and saw the cut was worst than I thought. It was deep, but not enough to need stitches and it had mostly stopped bleeding but it was still trickling blood.

"Ah, yes. It's…" he trailed off as he got the first aid kit. "Ningyo." I realized then that her bunny from Iruka was the only one that I didn't know the name of.

"Ningyo? She's not very creative." I joked. "Oh well. So doctor, how long will this take?"  
Tenzō rolled his eyes and started to clean the wound. "Shut up…" he made quick work of patching up my arm, "There, happy?" he poked it to spite me.

I cringed and sighed. "Thank you. For watching Aurora and…" I moved my left arm. "I owe you." I smiled and put my shirt back on.

"Neh sempai it's fine. I enjoyed watching her, but let's not make it a habit of asking me on the week off I have? I'm supposed to be recovering from being poisoned." He gave a half smile.  
"Ma, you should have told me. I would have tried to find someone else." I scratched the back of my head. I should have known there was a reason he had a week off.  
"Like I said, it's fine." He shrugged as he put the kit away. "I really do like watching her."  
After I was patched up and deemed presentable, I scooped my caterpillar up along with her bunny and new doll. I turned back to Tenzō and asked what he wanted as payment once more. Again he refused to take anything, but I promised him to dinner at least before leaving.

* * *

Once home, I put Aurora to bed and was about to go to bed myself when I noticed something. There was a bird on my window sill. _Strange, who would send a bird this late?_ The only thought that came to mind was an ANBU mission, but I'd quite two years ago. Regardless of how tired I was and how much I wanted to ignore the damn thing, I opened the window, took the letter from the bird and let it go off into the night.

I sat on the edge of my bed and stared at the little piece of paper. It was from the Hokage. I quickly opened it up, read what it said and my heart started to race. It was the result of Aurora's blood tests. Their theory was correct; she was in fact from the Yuki and Hōzuki blood line.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Ningyo- means doll


	8. Chapter 8

I was lost in my thoughts as Aurora played in the park. Surprisingly Sasuke, who was walking by, offered to play with her. His reason being was I looked distracted and she could wonder off. True, I was distracted, but I could multi-task. I accepted his offer however; it was nice to see that he actually cared about something.

The reason I was distracted was because the moment I knew about Aurora's bloodline limit, I knew she was in danger. The Yuki clan and Hōzuki were from the Mist and the Mist was well known for hating anyone with a bloodline limit. They even went so far as to send hunter nin after people who ran away from their village who had special bloodlines. I was afraid that would happen.

I was also afraid of a much closer threat, Danzō. He was well known for taking anyone with bloodlines and using them for his own gain. Now that Aurora's bloodlines were out and open to the public, he was sure to come after her. That's what has been keeping me up for the past few days.  
I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. The only thing I could do was find a god parent for Aurora so Danzō could never get his hands on her.

"Kakashi." I looked up as I was pulled from my thoughts. "I have to leave. Thought I would let you know so you could focus on Aurora." Sasuke was standing a few feet in front of me with Aurora tugging on his hand.

"No, Sas-nii…don't go!" Aurora pouted. Why she called him brother though confused me.

"Another time." Sasuke looked over and actually smiled at her! Sure it wasn't a toothy grin like Naruto's, but it was as close as you could get coming from Sasuke. "I promise we'll play longer." He said before walking off.

I was shocked. _Where had all of this come from?_

"Come on Aurora, we should get going too." I took her hand to go home, though I was planning on making a small detour first.  
There was one last thing I had to do before choosing who would be her god parent. I had to make sure I was making the right decision. Since we were passing the academy, I decided to test the last person on my list before nightfall. Iruka would still be there, even though classes were out, still grading papers. I just hoped he was in a good mood today.

* * *

When we walked into the academy, Aurora was in awe.

"Fader where we?" she asked.

"We're at the ninja academy." I smiled at her. "One day you'll go here and learn how to be a ninja." Sure I had taught her some basics, but the teachers here would be more for that. I could then focus on helping her learn how to hone her skills and control her kekkei genkai.  
She was going to say something else, but Iruka came out of his classroom.

"Uka!" She beamed and started running towards him.

"Huh? Aurora? Kakashi? What are you doing…?" He stopped midsentence as Aurora tripped and fell in front of him. When I looked closely, I could see one of the floor boards had come up a bit. I knew normally she would just get up and brush it off, but there was something else I didn't see. The board apparently had splinters poking out. She sat up a bit and held her right knee.

"You ok?" Iruka knelt down as Aurora started crying. "Hey, it's alright." He picked her up and took a look at her knee. I walked up and saw she had a splinter that had imbedded itself under her skin and was bleeding a little. It was just a scratch, but for a two year old it seemed like the end of the world.  
Iruka motioned for me to follow and headed in the direction of the teachers lounge. He opened the door and set her down on one of the chairs while he went to retrieve a med kit. I waited behind her and stroked her hair to try to calm her down; it seemed to work. When Iruka came back, he got out the tweezers and moved towards her.

"This won't hurt I promise." He smiled sweetly and started to get the splinter out of her knee. She flinched a bit, but he kept reassuring her he wasn't going to hurt her. Once it was out she wanted to see it so he showed her. It was about an inch long and looked like it would have hurt, and apparently did. She was taking it quite well in retrospect.

When she was all patched up Iruka smiled and told her how well she had handled it. She smiled and hugged him. I realized then I didn't have to look any further than the Chunin.

"It's you…" I said with out really thinking. The moment I said that I wanted to smack my head against the nearest wall repeatedly.

"Excuse me?" Iruka looked up at me from his knelling position by the chair. He had a slight blush on his cheeks.

"I mean…let me start over." I scratched the back of my head and explained what I had been doing. "And, I think you would be perfect for her. Would you consider being her god father?" By this time Iruka was standing up and looking at me as if I had gone completely mad.

"You've been having people babysit her at random for weeks and never told anyone your real intentions?" He crossed his arms over his chest and gave me his usual disapproving look. "Can't you do anything like a normal person?" he sighed.

"Maa, so is that a no?" I decided it best to not answer him 'cause he was right. I should have fessed up and told people what I was doing, but that wasn't my method.

"I never said no." he laughed. "I'd love to. Next time just tell me what you're doing. I would have told you to never take her to Anko's."

* * *

I had noticed people were acting strange around Aurora as we walked home. Sure it wasn't as bad as it had been for Naruto, but they were still shying away from her. She didn't seem to notice, until we passed a cart that was selling flowers. I noticed them first and knew Aurora would want to go look at them, but the man didn't look at her very kindly. He was on the other side sitting on a stool and was glaring at my daughter.

"Fader floders!" she squealed happily as she took my hand and pointed at them. I smiled down to her and let her lead me to the cart. She was too short for the ones on the shelves of the cart, but there were some in a pot on the ground. She stood on her toes and smelled one of the roses in there. The man got up slowly, the way he held himself told me we were not welcome. "Maa, your flowers are very lovely." I said to him. I thought maybe he was just in a foul mood.

"Keep her away from the cart." He spat, never taking his eyes off Aurora.

"Excuse me?" my eye widened in shock. Aurora backed away from the pot and moved to hide behind my leg.

"You heard me!" the old man said, poking me with his cane. I felt Aurora grab the back of my pant's leg. "Keep that brat away from my flowers!"

"Who? My daughter? Ma, and what damage could a two year old do to flowers?" I was starting to get angry.

"I know what she is! She could freeze them and kill them off! Keep her away from them!" The old man was now in my personal space and looking up at me. All of the wrinkles on his face made him look like an angry prune. _How did he find out? Someone's gonna pay..._

"Ah, is that all? Well, let me tell you this. She would never do that, not on purpose. Also, freezing flowers may preserve them a bit longer and give them a…unique look that could have helped you sell them faster." I was smirking under my mask. All of his bitching had created quite the crowd of stunned people. "You are also yelling at a two year old who just wanted to look at and smell your flowers. She wasn't doing any harm. If this is how you treat your customers maybe people should go else were.

"Come on caterpillar, I'll take you to a shop that will love to have you look at their flowers." I picked her up and carried her away from the evil old toad of a man. I was quite proud of not only how much I seemed to scare the old man, but at the other people who were around us also told him off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you were wondering he took her to Yamanaka's flower shop. Couldn't decide If I should write that in or not so I left it out. Please R&R.


	9. Chapter 9

Kakashi's View:

  
I squatted down so I could be eye level with the small red head.

"Come on caterpillar, you can do it." I encouraged her. She tilted her head to the side. "You get a prize if you do."

"But fader, I don't have ta go." She pouted as she sat on the little green potty chair. I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. She said that last time as well, but the moment she stood up, she peed on the floor.

"Just…try." I gave her an eye smile.

"Fader, why do you wear a mask?" She asked.

"Because I just do. Now, if you want to be a big girl, you have to use the toilet." I was about to start pleading with her if this didn't end soon. I thought diapers were bad but getting her to use the toilet was becoming an even worst chore.

"Does daddy use the potty?" she had started referring to Iruka as daddy recently, which concerned me a bit, but was cute for the time being.

"Yes, he does." I said shortly. I didn't want to discuss the other man's bathroom habits with my two year old.

"Do you?" she asked. She knew the answer to that. Multiple times she had walked in on me and demanded to know why I had a wiener and she did not.

"Aurora." I shot her a glare. "Come on now, enough stalling. You need to learn this." She pouted and tried once more. I sighed and sat back. "Ok, we'll try later." I said standing her up and pulling her pants up.

I had turned for just a second when I heard her say those dreaded words.

"Uh oh! Fader! I had an axeident…" Kami help me…

* * *

  
Along with trying to get Aurora potty trained, I also had the Chunin exams coming up. My students were more than ready. They complained constantly about how the missions were too easy, so I thought maybe if they were in the Chunin exams, it would teach them more about what it really meant to be a ninja. Their bought with Zabuza and Haku had taught them a bit about the real world, but they were still antsy. However, the tan chunin was there when I entered them in and wasn't please.

"They are not your students anymore Iruka! I know what is best for them." I was getting irritated with him. I understood he wanted to protect Naruto and the others, but they were growing up. They didn't need babied anymore. Aurora, who was there in the back playing with her bunny, was even shocked by my tone.  
Iruka was taken aback by my tone, but I was by no means angry with the chunin for voicing his opinion.  
Iruka later approached me and apologized for acting out.

"Kakashi, I over stepped my boundary." He said with a shallow bow. "You're right. You do know what is best for them now. They aren't my students anymore. I…just keep seeing them as…"

"Three academy students and pre-genin. I know." I gave him an eye smile. "You see Naruto as a younger brother, maybe even a son, but you have to trust that I know what I'm doing."

Iruka smiled softly and scratched the scar on his nose. "I do trust you. I just…want them to be safe." I knew how he felt. I had Aurora now.

"Why don't we settle this debate over dinner?" I suggested. Aurora beamed at having the chance to have dinner with Iruka.  
Iruka was shocked by my offer but gladly accepted. "Sure! Where too?"

* * *

  
If I had known that Iruka could eat over five bowls of ramen I would have never agreed to go to Ichiraku. I didn't mind after he offered to pay for the last three.

"Thank you Kakashi." He smiled. "I really appreciate it. I very rarely get invited out any more." He had a slight blush on his face.

"Oh?" I peered over the pile bowls in front of us. Aurora was still on her first, playing with the noodles. I was trying to get her to stop.

"Well yeah. I mean, I work at the academy and have shifts at the missions desk so it's kinda hard." He leaned over and put the spoon back in to Aurora's hand and gave her a stern look. She immediately obeyed. _Why wouldn't she do that for me?_

"I see. Well, if you'd like, we could try to get together once a week for dinner." What possessed me to say that, I wasn't sure.  
Iruka turned a slightly darker shade of red, before quickly composing himself.

"Kakashi, if I didn't know better, I'd think you were asking me on a date." He teased. It was now my turn to blush.

"Well…I didn't mean for it to sound that way." I retorted, trying to keep my embarrassment at bay. "But, if that's what you want." I shot back. Damn it self! What if he agreed?

"Um…listen, you're a nice guy but…" he trailed off. I was worried what was going to be said next. "I mean, if that's what you want. I guess…" I put a finger against his lips, which caused him to blush again.

"I was joking." He seemed to deflate after that.

"As was I." but he didn't sound so sure.

"So, every Wednesday at six?"

* * *

  
"Can I come ery wesday too?!" Aurora asked later as I was getting her ready for bed.

"Of course." I smiled at her. I had my mask off for the evening so she could see my facial expressions.

"Yay!" She cheered. I laughed and turned to brush my own teeth.

"Fader!" she cheered. I looked over and saw her on her potty. "I did it!" she beamed as she stood and proudly showed me she had in fact peed.

"Very good!" I opened the drawer and pulled a blue star sticker out. She beamed and put it on her lavender night gown. "Get four more of those and I'll take you to get ice cream."

"Yay! Ice cream!" she cheered and bounced off towards her room, continuing to chant ice cream. If only life were as simple as a two year olds world.


	10. Chapter 10

Aurora had become very fond of Sasuke. I'm not sure why she attached herself to him, but she loved him like an older brother. She even calls him nii-san now. Sasuke didn't seem to care that he had a little shadow following him practically everywhere. In fact, if she wasn't always trying to hold his hand, I doubt he would have even noticed she existed.

"Nii-san!" She called after him as we walked through the square. She had found him outside of the weapons shop and had ran to him. He gave her his usual blank look and scoffed. I could tell he was in a bad mood.

"I don't have time to play." He was gruff and cold towards her today. Did I forget to tell him about today? No, I made sure he knew what today was. Both he and Sakura had already been told.

"But...today's my bifhday! I'll be tree!" She beamed up at him, oblivious that he had no interest in her today. Why she choose to look up to him was beyond me.

"Tsk." He turned and was about to walk away when Aurora took ahold of his hand. He hid his eyes under his bangs, which usually meant he was angry. I was about to intervene when Aurora spoke.

"Are you ok?" She tilted her head to the side and looked up at the brooding preteen. Sasuke sighed and turned to look at her, the darkness in his eyes fading just a bit, and poked her on her forehead. Aurora furrowed her eyebrows in confusion while Sasuke seemed stunned by what he did.

"Happy birthday. See you later." Was all he said before he quickly walked away. If I remembered correctly, yesterday was the anniversary of his clan's murder. No wonder he was feeling down.

* * *

We ran into Naruto on the way home from the store. I needed cake mix to make her birthday cake. She insisted that I make a strawberry cake instead of me buying a store bought one. She didn't like the taste of the store bought ones apparently. I wouldn't really know, I didn't really like cake so I never tried them.

Aurora didn't run up to him the same way she did with Sasuke and didn't call him her brother either. She did still smile at him as she ran up to him.

"Hi Naruto!" She greeted him cheerfully. "Do you know what today is?!"

He scrunched his face in thought.

"Hmmm...they day ramen is only five ryo a bowl?" He apparently forgot too. Oh well, at least we found him.

"No! It's my birthday!" She laughed. He gave her a bright smile and ruffled her hair. She didn't like having her hair messed up and quickly tried to fix it when he let go.

"Well happy birthday, believe it!" He cheered for her. "What are you going to do to celebrate? I always go get ramen!" She giggled.

"Fader said he's gonna make a cake!" She beamed back, nearly matching Naruto's bright smile.

"Kakashi-sensei can cook?" He said in mild disbelief. I would have smacked him if Aurora wasn't around.

"Uh huh! He said we'd get dinner at my favorite place too! Ya...umm...Yakun…" I chuckled at her trying to pronounce the name.

"Yakiniku." I helped her. "Ma, would you care to join? We have to go home and make the cake first but you can meet us at about five?" Naruto's face looked like I had promised him the moon.

"R-really?! You'd want me there?" The blonde looked like he was about to cry but pushed it a side and beamed. "I'd love to! Believe it!"

* * *

Little did Aurora know, I had invited everyone she knew. Naruto had been hard to track down, but luckily we had found him in time. Everyone was there when we got there and shouted surprise when we entered. Aurora had been scared by how loud they were, but quickly recovered when she saw her favorite people. Iruka, Gai, Tenzo, Sakura, Naruto and Ino were all there. She liked Ino because she always gave her a flower when she saw her. Apparently her team had heard she was coming here, so Choji and Shikamaru were an added surprise. Aurora didn't seem to mind and got along well with them. She thought it was funny how serious Choji was about food. Sasuke however was nowhere to be seen.

Aurora loved her party. Everyone had given her a little gift, some a little more extravagant than others. Gai gave her a green and orange stuffed elephant that she loved, Ino had given her a potted lavender plant that smelled lovely, and Sakura gave her a doll with blonde hair and changeable outfits. I think it was a Barbie doll, but I wasn't too sure. Iruka gave her a new blue dress that sparkled, which she wanted to try on, but I told her not until we got home. Tenzo went over board and gave her a doll house with furniture, all made of wood with little wooden dolls to go with it. The detail on each doll made me wonder how long he spent making them. Obviously he adored her more than he initially let on. Shikamaru and Choji got her a new set of dull kunai knives, which I would have to hide away for a few years, but they were a very nice quality. Last was Naruto's gift, it was a purple and blue pin wheel. I know he had gotten it last minute, but she loved it.

She loved the whole affair, but I knew she wanted Sasuke to be there. I wasn't too surprised he didn't come, but he could have lied to her earlier and said he couldn't.

* * *

I sealed everything away in a scroll so it would be easy to take home, but she insisted that the elephant and blonde doll stay out. On the way home, the doll became a warrior of some kind that could ride elephants. Apparently the elephant could fly too, as she made whooshing noises. Children's imaginations still fascinated me.

I kept my eye on her as I read along the way. As cute as she was, I wasn't too interested in watching a flying elephant and a Barbie doll. People gave me weird looks for reading my favorite book while walking with my daughter. Some muttered it wasn't appropriate and others said things I prayed Aurora didn't hear. Some people are so judgmental. It's not like I read it to her, though she had asked at least once.

She stopped her playing all the sudden and looked towards our house. I looked up and saw someone sitting on our porch steps. I recognized his chakra signature, but wondered why he was here.

"Sas-nii!" Aurora took off towards him, dropping the doll off the elephant in her excitment. I picked it up and approached carefully, not knowing what the Uchiha was doing at our house. I didn't even know he knew where we lived.

Aurora had her arms around his neck, but he didn't really hug back. He just patted her head as she let go.

"What brings you here?" I asked, looming over the stair rail. "The party is over you know." He knew of course. I had told him the time and place yesterday with Sakura.

"I didn't want to be around that many people." He stated. "So I came here to give her her gift." He moved and pulled a small white box from his pocket. Aurora gently took it and opened it. It was a set of earrings. They were small, purple jeweled butterflies. They were beautiful, but Aurora didn't have her ears priced yet.

"Pretty!" Aurora smiled. "Thank you Sas-nii!" She smiled and handed me the little box, knowing I'd keep them safe and not lose them.

"They clip on, but can easily be changed to normal earrings." He gave her a small smile. "Happy birthday. Sorry I missed the party." He said as he got up to leave.  
I realized then how much he really did care about her, he just didn't know how to show it.

"Thanks for stopping by." I told him as he walked off.

* * *

The Chunin exam sign ups were today and my team was as ready as they could be. I arrived late again, the reason was because I went to get the sign up papers and had to drop Aurora off with Iruka.

"Hey, good morning!" I called to them. "Today, I got a bit lost on the path of life…"

"Right! That's a lie!" Naruto and Sakura yelled as I jumped down to join them.

"Um, well…" I paused. "This is sudden but I recommend you guys for the chunin exams, so…Here, these are your applications." I handed them three slips of paper.

"Chunin exam…" Sakura mumbled.

"That being said, the recommendations are not compulsory. You guys are free to decide whether you take the Exams or not." I told them. I left out the fact that if one didn't show up, the others could not compete.

Naruto gave a cry of excitement, stating he loved me and hugged me.  
"Hey, cut it out. Get off already…" I said, making him let me go. "Only those who want to take the Exam sign that application and come to room 301 of the Academy at three pm five days from now."

Naruto was over confident as usual, Sasuke was indifferent and Sakura seemed a bit hesitant. I left them to think it over, and to pass their pre-exams.

* * *

Later that night, after putting Aurora to bed, I sat on the roof tops waiting to see how they did.

"How was it?" I asked as the man appeared.

"We went to the trouble of having a special preliminary exam, but all nine rookies passed." In a poof of smoke, Iruka released his transformation jutsu. "As you said, it appears their skills have definitely improved."

"Well, the actual exams won't just end at this." I turned and smiled at the chunin. "Maa…I told you they were ready." Iruka blushed and scratched the back of his head. "I should have just listened and trusted you…" he admitted.

"Maa, we've been through this." I waved him off. "Well, I must return home, least Aurora wakes up without me."

"Gah…y-you left her home alone?!" Iruka turned on me.

"She's fine. She's asleep and there are traps set up." Before he could say any more, I poofed away.

* * *

I waited for them by the exams door and was anxious to see if they would all show up. Thankfully all three did and they were able to enter without any problems.

"I see. Sakura, you've come too." They looked surprised to see me. "Now you can formally register for the Chunin Exams."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked. I told them about how all three needed to be there in order to enter. They were a bit mad I didn't tell them that in the first place.  
"I didn't want that fact influencing your decision. Nor did I want Naruto and Sasuke pressuring you into participating." I looked towards Sakura. She was the one I worried about not coming. She blushed softly but didn't say a word as the entered into the exam room. I felt a swell of pride as they went in.

* * *

I went home and continued to silently worry about my team. Unfortunately for me, Aurora was very in tune with people's feelings.

"Fader?" She looked up from playing with the doll house. It was set up in the living room right now so I could watch her play. It had a lot of small pieces and I wanted to make sure she didn't put any in her mouth. "What's wrong?"

I sighed and moved from the couch to the floor. "Ma, it's nothing. Just nervous for my team." I picked up a wooden doll with a blue shirt and set him in the little house. She didn't like that I put him in the living room.

"Why?" She asked moving the blue shirt doll into the little kitchen. "He's hungry now." She stated as if I should have known all along.

"The exams can be tough. I just worry is all." I was also on call for the second half of the exams. If more passed than we needed, I was there to help watch the preliminary fights.

"They be ok." She smiled. "They strong!" She stood and made a pose to show how strong.

"Oh? How do you know?" I asked, amused by her antics.

"Cause you taught them!" I laughed at her bold statements. She was adorable. I grabbed her, pulling her into my lap and tickled her. She laughed and struggled to get away.

"Thank you, Aurora. I know they will do fine." I stopped and held her close. She continued to giggle for a little while before she wanted to be set free to play again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes I used the dialog from the show and no I do not own any of it. The only thing I own is Aurora. Please R&R!


	11. Chapter 11

Since everyone was at the preliminary fights, I had no choice but to bring Aurora with me. Luckily there was a small room where she could stay and play in while I was on duty.

"Now, if you need anything, just ask the ANBU guard outside ok?" I knew the guard, Tenzo, would be more than happy to play with her.

"Ok, but why do I stay here and you get to go?" She pouted. "I want to watch too!"

"Maa…these fights are a secret. So you have to stay here." I lied. Technically you shouldn't even be here.

"Aww…" She was upset but to cheer her up a bit, I used my summoning jutsu and left Bull and Bisuke to keep an eye on her. Bull was more than happy to watch his favorite small human while Bisuke was a bit peeved he was called for babysitting duty.

It wasn't the first time I had asked my hounds to keep an eye on her, but it was rare. I left with a promise to pay them back and watched Aurora bear hug the big gray dog before I left.

* * *

The second part of exams did not go as planned. Somewhere along the way, Orochimaru had attacked my team and left Sasuke with a curse mark. I was glad Aurora was in a different room. She would hate seeing her "brother" in pain. Before his match, I warned him about using the curse mark. He would be disqualified.

After his match, I appeared behind him and kept him from falling back in exhaustion.

"Well, good job." I congratulated and compared his moves to that of Gai.

I heard Naruto yelling about how Sasuke won in a lame way but mostly tuned it out, worrying more about the curse mark.  
A medical Nin came up and asked Sasuke to come with him.

"You guys are way out of you territory." I told him. I recognized him as the same one that took Aurora's blood. "I'll take him under my care." I leaned down to Sasuke's level. "I'll take you to the back and seal the curse mark."

"Can it wait till the preliminaries are over? I want to watch and see who passes to the final battle." Sasuke protested.  
"If we let things be, the situation might become irrevocable." I told him. "Now come..." I told him and let him lead. I noticed he was holding his shoulder the whole way.

* * *

It took a while; each seal had to be written in blood by hand and had to be perfect.

"Ok." I said as I finally finished writing and started making the right hand seals. "Hang in there, it will be over soon." The boy nodded his head in agreement. He wanted this sealed just as much as I did. The pain must have been excruciating; Sasuke screamed in pain as the words swirled and formed a seal around the mark. I told him the seal should stop the mark from taking effect, as long as he didn't push too hard. The effect of sealing eventually made Sasuke pass out.

"Out of character. He must have been tired." I mused.

"To think you've become able to handle sealing jutsu." An eerie voice sounded from the shadows. My visible eye widened in shock. I turned slowly and saw him. "You've grown, eh Kakashi?"

"You..." I felt a cold sweat wash over me.

"Long time no see, Kakashi." Orochimaru purred. It was really him. What in the world was he doing here? How did he get in?

"Sorry but, I have no business with you, Kakashi." He said. Stepping closer. I was now between him and Sasuke. "But I do with the kid behind you."

"Why are you after Sasuke?" I asked the snake of a man.  
He admitted he only wanted him for his sharingan. I worried for a moment if he would go after Aurora but quickly squashed that idea and concentrated on the situation at hand. He might not even know of her existence.

He reviled he is the one he was the one who built the sound village and I realized that he had more people working for him then I could have ever imagined.

"What a ridiculous ambition." I growled. He wanted to destroy the leaf village. He would never get that far, not if I had a say. He freely told me he need more pieces in order to do it. One of the pieces was Sasuke.

He took a few more steps towards me, my body tensed up more and I was ready to more at a moment's notice.

"Don't come any closer to Sasuke!" I formed a chidori, which shocked Orochimaru. "Even if you are one of the legendary Sanin, I can kill you as you kill me." I love you, Aurora. I thought to myself, prepared to die to save the village.

To my surprise he started laughing.

"What's so funny?" I demanded.

"What you say and do, are all off." He glared at me. "There's no point in attempting such a seal. There's no stopping what the heart wants, no matter the obstacles. He's an avenger."

"So you took advantage of that?"

"At some point, he will seek me out, in search of power." He said as he turned and walked away. "Oh, and you're going to kill me? Why don't you try if you can?" I froze in fear, the chidori dissipated in my sudden realization. Kill you as you kill me...am I an idiot? I asked myself. There was no way I could have taken him on my own. I gained control of my body and forced myself to stop shaking.

I picked up the passed out boy and quickly got him to the hospital, making sure ANBU were stationed outside of his door.

* * *

I appeared behind my other two students, deciding I should be there in case anything else happened. Before that though, I sent a shadow clone to check up on Aurora. Thank kami she was ok. She was playing with Bull, putting a hat on him and playing imaginary tea party. Bisuke was pouting, sitting beside Bull with a scarf around his neck. I'd have to give him something good for putting up with that.  
Right as I appeared, Sakura started asking me all about Sasuke. I calmed the pink haired girl down and told her he is resting but left out the fact he was guarded by ANBU. The next match started up right then, directing their attention to the arena.

* * *

The matches ended. Sakura did not pass but Naruto won his match. The only one on Gai's team that passed was Neij, and he had to be pulled off of Hinata before he killed her. I worried about that boy. I worried more about Lee though. He had been injured quite badly by the sand village kid named Gaara. That boy had some issues, claiming killing was his purpose in life.

I put these thoughts to the side as I got to Aurora. She had tired herself out and was cuddled against Bull, sleeping on the large dog, head on his side with his big paw around her. Bisuke was guarding the door and growled when I came in.  
"Ma, is that any way to greet me?" I chided.  
"Never leave me with her again..." He said before he poofed away in a poof of smoke. Bull on the other hand laid there and yawned and me.  
"You can go too." Bull gave a sad whine, licked Aurora's face to move her off of him and disappeared. She woke up but when I scooped the sleepy red head, she fell back to sleep on my shoulder. I smiled and held her close as we headed towards the hospital to check on Sasuke.

* * *

"Fader?" She asked sleepily along the way. "Where're we?" She rubbed her eyes and looked around. I was going to answer but I sensed something was wrong. Once in the lobby, I re-summoned Bull and put her in front of him.  
"Watch her." I ran off, knowing he would guard her with his life. Bull gave a bark of understanding as I left and Aurora called to me but I couldn't turn back.

* * *

I caught a man with a knife near Sasuke's throat and quickly disarmed him.

"I have to hand it to you Kakashi," He smirked. "Stopping my attack from your blind spot…But, you'd better ready at least 10 of your men next time."  
The ANBU that I left were taken out without difficulty… I worried to myself. "You're not an ordinary Genin are you? You caught a whiff of me and immediately readied your weapon…you're quite impressive."

"No, I'm not that at all." I had him on edge.

"What do you want with Sasuke?" I glared at the possible traitor.

"I wonder if that's possible for the likes of you…" he turned towards me, still smirking. "Are you looking to take me on?" He stepped towards me.

"You are the son of the chief of the Leaf medical crops, aren't you?" I asked him. "You're Kabuto Yakushi? Are you affiliated with Orochimaru?" His smirk gave it away.  
"If you arrest me now, you might never be able to prove my connection to Orochimaru." He threatened.

"Shut up and answer to my questions."

"What if I say No?" he challenged.

"I'm the one asking the questions. Now give me some answers."

"You'll find out before long anyway if you let me go, so can you make an exception just this once?" _Was he serious?_

"You willful little brat…Don't mess around with grown-ups." I drew a kunai, ready to fight.

"Don't be so arrogant." He drew a curved kunai. "The circumstances are in my favor." He switched hands and held the kunai to Sasuke's throat. I watched as sweat ran down Kabuto's cheek. He was nervous about all of this.

I moved quickly, taking him off guard and disarmed him. I was able to easily pin him down but noticed something was wrong. Suddenly one of the ANBU got up and ran off.

I should have known…Thankfully he was unaware it was also a clone I had sent in. My clones and I surrounded him, ready to catch him and take him in. Unfortunately we had the wrong Kabuto and yet another ANBU sat up and jumped out the window. I ran towards the window and watched as the bastard reviled his face as he fell.

"Damn...I've let him escape." I silently cursed. I turned back way from the window, released my clones and went to the fake fallen Kabuto.

"Impressive…" I muttered. As I suspected… _This is the Dead Soul Jutsu_ , I touched the pulse point on the dead man, confirming my suspicions. When one temporarily animates and controls the heart of a dead body and also stopping his heartbeats and eliminating all traces of his body odor…in order to prepare an escape by impersonating a murdered ANBU…He wasn't raised as the adopted son of the chief medical corps for nothing. _If someone this good is working for Orochimaru…I can't stay as I am now_ …

I stood, deciding to report this and leave.

  
As I was leaving, I heard the yells of Naruto in the lobby.

"Naruto, this is a hospital. Keep it down." I chided. I looked over to see Aurora holding on to Bull, still frightened of how I had left her.

"Kakashi sensei!" Naruto turned and ran towards me before I could go to my daughter. "Say! I've got a favor to ask!"

"You don't need to say it all. I thought it would come to this so…I searched for someone to watch your training." I had already resolved to train Sasuke. Yes, I knew Naruto was just as important but he wasn't being hunted down by a greater evil. Besides, Naruto would be fine with the teacher I found for him.

"Why?! I want you to, Kakashi Sensei!"

"I have some matters to take care of." What I said next may have been too harsh. "I don't have time to trouble myself with you."

"You're going to train Sasuke aren't you!?" Naruto yelled.

"I found a sensei who is more reliable than I am!" I quickly retorted.

"Well…who is it?" Thank whatever gods, he showed up just then.

"It's me!" Naruto turned and cried out at the person who spoke.

"You! Closet Perve!" Naruto cried. Aurora covered her ears at how loud he was and buried her face into Bull's fur. I felt bad for Ebisu, but trusted him to take care of the loud blonde.


	12. Chapter 12

The next few weeks were rough. Sasuke had to be under constant surveillance to make sure Orochimaru didn't return for him, which irritated him. I understood that he felt a little trapped, but it was for his own good. To top things off, one of our own had been murdered. Hayate's body had been found, but no one knew who had done it yet. He had apparently been spying on Kabuto.

This forced me to take Aurora everywhere with me to keep her safe, including Sasuke's training. She loved coming with me, but I didn't have time between the two to train with her the whole time. I knew she was bored, but she was good at finding ways to keep herself busy. Unfortunately, she wasn't aware of personal spaces yet and did nearly get hit by sparks off of Sasuke's chidori. There was now a line in the dirt on how close she could get to him, but she never strayed far from my side since then.

Every so often I would see her mimic some moves, occasionally pulling some off, but mostly she twirled in a circle, got dizzy and fell onto the dirt. I swore to start training with just her soon.

While I was teaching Sasuke how to control his chakrai, both of us were startled when she screamed. I whirled around to see her holding my water bottle, which was covered in frost. I was hoping my eyes were playing tricks on me.

"Fader, look it!" She said as I knelt down and took the ice cold bottle. I took the top off and tipped it to see if water would come out, but none did. "It froze!" She cried cheerfully. I was dumbfounded that she could do this at such a young age.

"I see…" I said, still amazed.

"Kakashi, what's going on?" Sasuke asked as he came up from behind. "Why was she able to do that?" So he didn't know. I wondered how far the information leak spread...

"Ma...this cannot be repeated, understand?" I looked at the young Uchiha, making sure he nodded in agreement and swore never to tell a soul. "You know she's adopted." Sasuke just glared. Of course he did, he wasn't stupid. "I found her in the forest outside of the village about three years ago."

"Where were her parents?" Sasuke interrupted. "Weren't they around?"

"No." I covered Aurora's ears and proceeded to tell him how their bodies were found, mutilated and torn to shreds. "Her mother had obviously hid her before she too was cut down." I finished and let Aurora go. "If I had not found Aurora that night...I fear she too would have faced the same fate." Sasuke looked toward the ground, upset about the story. "Ma, but now she has a loving home and family." I gave him an eye smile.

"So, who were her parents?" Sasuke looked towards the little red head. "Did they...were they part of the same clan that boy, Haku, was from?" I knew he would make that connection.

"Yes. Well, her mother was any way. She was from the Yuki clan. Her father was from the Hozuki clan." Sasuke raised his eyebrow in question. "They are also a powerful clan from the Mist. They're powers involve being able to turn their bodies into a water type form. So far, only the Yuki part of her bloodlines have activated." At least it seemed that way. I waited to see it either had questions. Aurora seemed to actually understand what I was saying.

"What's the Yuki clan then?" Aurora asked.

"They have ice abilities." I said, sitting down on the ground and allowing her to crawl into my lap. Sasuke joined us on the ground as well, sitting across for us and listening intently. "They can use any water source and use it to make ice. Some I've even heard can take water from the air and use it as well."

"Can I do that?" She asked excitedly.

"Maybe someday. But for now, why don't you practice freezing and unfreezing the water in the bottle." I handed her the frosted bottle and watched her focus on it.  
Her brows furrowed in concentration as she tried. Sasuke and I watched for a few minutes, until she gave up.

"I can't..." She said sadly. She wanted so much to prove herself, but she was just figuring this all out. She would get it eventually.

"Keep trying. I know you can do it. Remember how I told you to focus your chakra?" She nodded and tried again. This time, the frost on the outside turned to water but the water inside stayed frozen. "Very good." I praised, but she still didn't stop. By the time I felt her chakra flare, it was too late. The bottle cracked under the pressure, spraying ice cold water all over the three of us. What in the world?

"Oops..." Aurora blushed. "Sowy!"

* * *

The rest of the day went that way. Aurora practiced freezing and unfreezing water, in a small cup this time, while Sasuke and I practice. He was a quick learner, thanks to his sharingan, and got it down within a few hours. He was able to use two in one day, so far. I had previously warned him not to overdo it, saying if he tried to use any more, the curse mark would take over, but today I wwanted him to push for one more.

"Sasuke, one more time…" I felt someone grab my leg. I turned, looked down and saw Aurora, clutching my pant leg in fear. So she felt him too.

"What happened?" Sasuke noticed how scared she was.

"It's obvious that you're there. I can feel your thirst for blood." I called. "Why don't you come out?"

His aura felt dark, heavy with his thirst for blood. Aurora so sensitive to emotions, it scared her enough to run to me.

The boy from the sand village, Gaara, stepped out from behind a rock.

"It's you…"

"Daddy…?" Aurora looked up at me in fear. The only time she ever said daddy to me was when she was scared. I put my hand on the top of her head to calm her, hoping he didn't turn on her. His eyes never moved away from Sasuke's direction. Gaara didn't seem to even notice me or Aurora, he was too focused on Sasuke. He turned after a few tense moments and started to walk away.

"Wait!" Sasuke yelled. "Why are you so fixated on me?" I was surprised at Sasuke's boldness. Gaara turned back and stared Sasuke down.

"Those eyes that know true loneliness…And eyes that know that it is the world's greatest suffering…I think I told you, that you have the same eyes as me." Gaara spoke in an emotionless voice. "Eyes that lust for power, overflowing with hatred and murderous intent…the same as me…Eyes that burn to kill those that wronged you."

That seemed to shake something deep in Sasuke's core. I watched quietly, wanting to see what his real intent was. The moment I saw that they were about to attack each other, I quickly tried to ease the tension to get him to back off.

"Okay, just a minute. So, you're Gaara." I felt Aurora cling tighter to me and his murderous aura swept over us. I tried to stay calm as I talked to him "…Don't perceive to know everything about Sasuke. What is it you want to say before the final round?"

"A battle is where…one's existence is put to the line. And each tries to kill the other!" Gaara growled. Aurora whimpered behind me. "Only the winner can feel the value of his existence."

"In other words you want a killing bout and not a match." Sasuke answered.

"Uchiha…You should be wanting it too…in the depths of your soul you want to prove your existence. Am I really that powerful?" The more Gaara spoke, the more irritated and scared Sasuke was getting. I looked back to Sasuke to see what he would do.

Neither said anything more and Gaara turned once more and walked away. Sasuke and I watched until he disappeared completely. There was something very off about this. Something about him did not sit right with me and I hoped Sasuke would be ok in his match against him.


	13. Chapter 13

In a few hours, the Chunin exam finals would begin. I had to use this time to finalize Sasuke's training, but in order to do that, he needed my full attention. I left Aurora under the care of Sakura, who was thrilled to take care of my precious girl, but Aurora wasn't too sure how to feel. Sakura promised to meet me at the stadium with her later today, I just hoped neither of them started a fight. Aurora was stubborn she didn't like, and I know Sakura had a bad temper; I just hoped they got along.

Unfortunately, my skills with keeping track of time weren't the best and I almost go the young Uchiha disqualified. Luckily, his match had been pushed back by one and we were "on time."

"Sorry we're late." I apologized as the smoke cleared around us, the last of the swirling leaves fell. The crowd was wild, his match apparently was more anticipated than I thought. No one seemed to realize how much danger Sasuke was really in.

* * *

Sakura wasn't hard to find, seeing as Ino was sitting by her. Ino was loudly cheering and spitting out some profanities while Sakura tried to cover Aurora's ears. Aurora was not having any of it, and was struggling to get free while the pinkette tried to scold Ino. Aurora let out a cry, which was mistaken as a cheer by Ino and she told her to keep cheering. Maybe it really hadn't been the best idea to have had Sakura watch her.

"Yo." I said as I sauntered over towards them, breaking up the two. "What did I miss?"

"You missed everything!" Sakura turned her wrath on me, allowing Aurora to escape her grasp.

"Naruto-kun won!" Aurora happily cried as I picked her up. "He beat...um..."

"Neji." Sakura helped.

"Hinata-chan even cheered!" Aurora beamed. I was happy to hear the Hyuuga girl was doing better.

"Ma, sad I missed the match." I gave them an eye smile.

"Fader, what's a bitch?" I was stunned by the question and language my daughter said. I looked to the two culprits, who seemed to be fearing for their lives.

"Ino..." Sakura growled, turning on her friend. _Maa, what am I going to do now?_

* * *

Something felt off during Sasuke's match. I couldn't pin point it at first until it was almost too late. Genjutsu? I thought as I saw the feathers around me. Release! I dispelled it so it wouldn't put me to sleep, but it was too late for Aurora and most of audience Sakura was the only one that seemed to have caught on and dispelled the jutsu as well.

"Sakura." I called to her, setting Aurora on Ino's lap and grabbing a kunai. "Get down!" I blocked the kunai that was launched towards us. A masked ninja landed near us, with more suddenly appearing around the stadium. They were not ANBU, but looked like they were. Gai showed up not long afterwards and we fought off the enemy ninja. The question was, who were these people and who was the real target?

* * *

After everything was over, we learned Orochimaru was behind everything. He disguised himself as the Kazekage and planned an attack on the leaf, using the Sand Villages' ninja. He also apparently had his own village, the Sound Village, under his control.  
The Sand had apologized and wanted to amend for what happened. The death of the Hokage made it very hard for anyone to accept it, but in the end they were tricked too. They had no idea it was Orochimaru, posing as the Kazekage, giving them orders.

The funeral for those we lost was the first for Aurora. She was still young and didn't quite understand what was going on. She had a vague idea of what death was, but she had never seen it before. I just hoped she didn't experience any losses like I had...  
"Fader, what's going on?" She asked while everyone hung their heads in sadness. Some people around us glared, but at least understood she was just a child.  
"We're mourning the loss of our Hokage." I explained. "Let's talk at home ok?" I knew she had questions, but it wouldn't be right to answer some of them here.

* * *

Later that evening, Aurora and I sat in the living room to talk about what happened. Her first question was why we all had to wear black, which wasn't the one I expected her to ask. I explained that's what people did when someone died, it was out of respect.

"Why is everyone sad?" She asked.

"Maa...a lot of people died. Do you understand what that means?" She shook her head,her wide eyes were full of innocence. I really didn't want to explain anymore, it would take that light away. "It means their life was taken. They...are no longer here."

"Where did they go?"

"That I can't really answer." I didn't want to lie to her and give her the same crap everyone said. "I think you meet your loved ones on the other side. Besides that, I don't know."

"Other side of what?" Should have guessed she'd ask that.

"Maa...when someone dies...their body is left behind but...their spirit is...released. Their spirit goes to the after life, the other side as some people call it." There really wasn't a way to explain where you go.

"Oh...so they leave this world?"

"Yes." She seemed to be getting it.

"So...why do we die? Why do we live?" I was not expecting her to ask hard questions like this.

"Hm...good question. Each person has a different reason to live. I live to protect those precious to me." She gave me a confused look. "Others have different reasons."

"But why?"

"Why what, caterpillar?"

"Why does everyone live?"

"Maa...that's...there isn't really a good answer I can give you other than what I just said. Each person has a different reason. As to why life exists..." that wasn't a question I had pondered before. "I don't know."

"Why do we die though?" She seemed frustrated at my answers.

"No one wants to, but that's how life goes. People die from old age, protecting something precious to them, and many other reasons. We fight to live, and in doing so sometimes we die."

Aurora was quiet for a bit, mulling over everything I said before asking more.

"So...why do I exist? Why did my... why did they die?" My three year old asked. I kept having to remind myself she was only three.

"Your parents died saving you, their most precious person. You exist because they loved each other. You are the product of their love."

She looked down at the floor for a bit, thinking something over but seemed hesitant to ask.

"Is there anything else?" I asked.

"Why did you take me in?" She was still looking at the floor.

"Maa...I...I'm still not sure myself." I let slip. "I mean, it's not that I didn't want you, but I don't know why I took you in. We were so small and helpless then...I felt like I couldn't let you go. The Third offered to take you to a foster home but...something told me that was wrong. Something told me I should raise you." I still doubted that voice. I wasn't the best father figure, nor did I think I would ever be, so why did I adopt her?

"You loved me right?!" Her voice broke as if she were crying.

"Of course I did. I still do." I said scoping her up into my lap. She buried her face in my shoulder. "I just can't explain why...but never doubt that I do." I didn't mean to make her cry…

* * *

I was left to repair the damage done to my team. The three of them went after Gaara, two of them getting sorley beaten down. Naruto had been hurt as well, but he was able to talk Gaara down in the end. However, it was becoming apparent that Naruto's seal was weakening.

Jiraiya got word of everything going on and had returned. Apparently he was going to train Naruto from now on. It wasn't what I wanted to happen, but he was right. I wasn't able to take on the tailed beast inside of him. Jiraiya had a better knowledge of the seal placed on the boy and could easily use it to block off the beasts chakra if Naruto lost control. I just wondered if Naruto would be ok with the old pervert.

I was left to focus on preventing Sasuke from following a dark path. He'd been struggling to keep control of the curse mark, nearly succumbing to it in the fight with Gaara. The defeat had put him in a very dark place and I needed to figure out how to pull him out of it.

I felt someone pull on my pant leg, pulling me from the thoughts. I realised the air around me had gotten colder, the metal on the bench even had frost covering it. I looked up from the book I'd been absently staring at and saw Aurora had frozen the park, children and parents alike were walking away in fear. The swings chains were coated in ice, along with the climbing bars, and the sand had a dusting of frost. I looked down to her, guilt written on her face.

"I didn't mean to…" she said sadly. How had I not felt her chakra flare?

"Ma...what happened?" I asked, though I knew it was just because she couldn't control it yet. The question was, what set her off?

"I got 'cited…" She looked up. "Now they won't play and called me names…" I looked around and saw everyone had left by this time.

"There's nothing to be ashamed of." I assured her. "With more practice, you can control it. You're not...whatever they called you." she hadn't said, possibly not understanding what had been said to her. She was a three year old...with a bloodline that was difficult to control.

"Why do they be afraid of me?" She asked.

"They don't understand." I was going to continue but from a distance, I saw two figures. The sight of them paralyzed me for a moment, I recognized one of them.

"Ma...how about we call Sasuke to meet us for some Dango?" I wanted to follow them, and had a guess at where they were going. Aurora immediately perked up and I noticed the ice started melting. It's affected by her emotions…

* * *

The bird I sent to Sasuke had done its job and I saw the raven haired boy coming towards us. Aurora hadn't noticed yet, distracted by the colorful balloons at the next stall over. Inside the dango shop, the two figures sat at a table. I know they had sensed I was there, but they hadn't made a move yet. Before Sasuke could reach us, Asuma and Kurenai walked by.

"Hey you two. On a date?" I teased them. Aurora looked up and smiled at them.

"Heh, Anko told me to pick up some sweets." Kurenia tried to brush it off.

"What about you? Getting some sweets from dad huh?" Asuma ruffled Aurora's hair. She pouted and fussed with it after.

"Ma, we're just waiting for Sasuke to get here first." I felt a shift in the air after I said his name. As I said his name, Sasuke arrived.

"Kakashi, it's rare for you to arrive early." and in a flash of chakra, the two inside were gone. I noticed both Sasuke and Aurora looked inside at that moment. Both Kurenia and Asuma disappeared soon after, chasing the men.

"I'm not really one for sweets…" Sasuke said dryly.

"Then, please get something for Aurora before you leave." I said handing him my coin pouch. "I just remembered, I need to be somewhere." I said and was gone with a poof of smoke.

* * *

Sasuke's View:  
Typical Kakashi...dropping off his kid on people. I looked at the surprised child and sighed, taking her hand.  
"Come on, what would you like?" There was something else going on, I was going to find out, but right now someone had to watch her.

* * *

On the way back to Kakashi's home, Aurora told me about how she had frozen the park. The kid couldn't control her chakra just yet, but even then it was quite a feat to do at her age.  
"Fader said it was ok but...ever'body in da park ranned away." She sounded sad about this.  
"It means you're getting strong." I said as we walked up to her door. I stopped when I felt other persons chakra. I grabbed Aurora and rushed her inside, worried something bad had happened. I sat her on a chair and told her not to move as I ran upstairs. There I saw Gai, Asuma and Kurenia all around a passed out Kakashi.  
"Why are all of you here? Why is Kakashi sleeping?" At that moment, another ninja barged into the house and rushed up the stairs. Aurora screamed, scared by his sudden entrance.  
"Is it true?! Has Itachi really returned and is chasing Naruto?" At his words, I felt my blood boil.  
I bolted out the door, ignoring Aurora's cries for me. _Why was he back? Why was he after Naruto?!_

* * *

Kakashi's view:  
I awoke to Aurora hovering over me, Asuma sitting close by to watch over me. I couldn't move, not even to look at my daughter. I did see that her eyes light up when I opened mine.

"You're awake?" He asked. "Good...we weren't sure you would." He sighed heavily.

"H-how long have I…" My throat was dry, at least a day if I had to guess.

"A day and a half…" I sighed, not liking that I was out that long. "Itachi...he went after Naruto, as he said. Luckily Jiraiya was with him. Sasuke though...he's in the hospital." Asuma stood from the stool he was sitting on.

"Don't you worry about your kid, she's been with us." Asuma grinned. Aurora seemed to be more concerned about what was wrong with me though. "Also, Lady Tsunade is back."

That was surprising and explained why I was back in the real world. I then remembered a little bit of what happened, Gai had rushed her off to look at Lee after she healed me. How did I get back home? Did he carry me again? I'll have to thank the green clad man later, and scold him for carrying me.

"Now that you're up, I guess I'll take my leave then huh?" He said getting up. I was able to nod and sit up a little as he left the house. Aurora quickly crawled into my lap, looking into my face to make sure I was ok.

"Hey caterpillar...sorry if I worried you." I still needed to rest and might not be myself for a little while. I hoped she could forgive me for that.


	14. Chapter 14

Not even a day later, after a short nap, I got a knock on my window. A summons for a mission.

"Maa...guess I'm called in for a mission already." Things must be dire if they needed me. I looked over to see the bird hadn't disturbed Aurora. She'd taken to sleeping with me again, worried I might not wake up. I assured her that that would never happen, but she insisted anyway.

Aurora really wanted to go visit Sasuke, but I had a feeling something was going on with Sasuke. I didn't want her to see him spiral, but I had to take her to Iruka's anyway...Against my better judgement, I decided to take her there. She practically skipped the whole way there, excited to see her friends. I envied her innocence, never wanting it to fade from her.

* * *

Just as I had thought, Sasuke wasn't in his room. I reached my chakra out and sensed him and Naruto up on the rooftop. Scooping Aurora up, I quickly made my way up there, practically dropping her when I saw what was going on. Sasuke and Naruto were using their most powerful jutsus against each other. If the chidori and rasengan collided it would create quite the show, but that wasn't they worrying part.

"Stooop!" Sakura cried, running between them in an effort to stop them."Both of you please!" Neither of them heard her at first, but it was too late by the time they did see her. I grabbed their wrists swinging them away from each other, both colliding into separate water tanks, blowing out the othersides. It would have killed Sakura...they would have killed her all for a little spat.

"You two! What are you doing up here?" I briefly wondered where Naruto had learned such a technique, before coming to the conclusion that the old sanin had done it. "Why are you so obsessed over you superiority complex, Sasuke. Chidori isn't an attack to use against a team mate. Were you trying to kill Naruto?" Both water tanks had damage, but in different ways. Sasuke's was bent, blown from both sides. Naruto's though...the metal had twisted very little from the first blow, but the back of it was completely blown away, leaving a giant hole. _This behavior...it must have come his encounter with Itachi._ Sasuke glared at me, angry at stopping him, but I saw a small bit of regret in his eyes. He glanced at Aurora and Sakura, the regret in his eyes showing even more as he saw the look of fear from the three year old.

Aurora was hiding behind a distraught Sakura, scared at what she had just seen. The pinkette was sobbing uncontrollably, upset her friends nearly killed her and each other. As if on cue, Sasuke decided to flee, flipping off of the building. That's when he saw the hole created by Naruto's rasengan. His eyes widened for a second before he glared once more. I let him go for now, a certain Sanin showed up and I wanted to talk to him.

"You were the one to teach Naruto that technique? I feel that Naruto too young to be able to control a technique like that. Even if it was meant to protect him from the Akatsuki..."

"To be fair... chidori is too much for Sasuke too...I never thought Naruto would use it against his teammate…" Jiraiya countered, but was as regretful as I was about our students using their power against each other.

I left him to deal with Naruto, I'd deal with Sasuke, but first I had to calm Sakura down and get Aurora out of here. I landed back in front of them, Sakura looking up from crying.

"It's alright, things will go back to how they used to be." I gave them an eye smile to try to calm them. I hoped they didn't pick up that I had no idea if things would be ok. I picked Aurora up and quickly left, tracking down the fuming Uchiha. She buried her face into my flak jacket, upset and very confused at what was going on.

* * *

I tracked him down in a tree, Aurora had pointed him out just before I felt his chakra. I briefly wondered if she was a sensory type ninja before focusing back on the situation before me. Sasuke was spiraling down towards the darkness and I had to try and stop him. I told Aurora to stay on the ground as I leapt up into the tree, quickly tying him to the trunk of the tree to keep him from running.

"What's the meaning of this?!" Sasuke barked, angry I'd snuck up on him and tied him down.

"If I didn't do this, you'd just run away…" He turned his head away from me. "Sasuke, stop seeking revenge. I've seen it time and time again in our line of work, those that tasted revenge still weren't satisfied. It ends in tragedy." I tried to warn him. "You'll only hurt and suffer more...even if you succeed you'll be left with an emptiness."

"What the hell do you know! Don't act like you understand!" He yelled. "What if I were to kill the ones you love most? How far would you stray from your words...I can make you feel true pain!" Down below us, I heard Aurora cry loudly at his words, which got his attention too. I saw his face soften for just a second, realizing what he just said. He'd have to kill her, someone he also cared for.

"That would work, unfortunately Aurora is the only one left. The others...are already died or have been killed." This shocked the raven haired boy. "I lived in a hard era, I understand the feeling of pain and loss. We aren't the lucky ones, but we aren't worse off. Both you and I have found precious people, a new type of family." I told him. He looked down towards her, the first time he looked at her this whole time. She was crying harder now, not like how Sakura had been but out of fear. She was scared of her appointed brother. She feared he would harm her after putting all her trust and love into him.

"Sasuke...you should know from your own experience that the chidori was a power given to you to protect those important to you. It shouldn't be used against your friends, or for revenge. You should know what that power should be used for." I told him as I untied him, looking down at the crying girl to make my point. I gave him a final warning as I jumped down to get Aurora. "Think long and hard on it, if you can do that." I left him then, picking her up once more to go to Iruka's. I missed the hurt look on his face.

* * *

Aurora was unhappy for many reasons. One, I was leaving and two she had seen Sasuke fighting the darkness within him; the heartbreaking part was that she now feared him. She'd told me after calming down enough to talk; she didn't want to die. Iruka had his hands full with her, but I had to go on my mission. I didn't want to leave her in this turmoil of harsh reality, so I tried to reason with her.

"Sasuke will be alright. He's just...confused right now. I'm sure by tomorrow he'll be himself again." But even she didn't believe me. I wasn't even sure if I believed myself.

* * *

Iruka's View:  
As expected, Kakashi was called for a mission and was at my door with Aurora. This time though, she was very upset but not about Kakashi leaving her like usual, Saksue had upset her.

Kakashi explained the incident before leaving with an apology. He never did that...I worried this was affecting him just as much. I held the crying girl in my lap until she finally settled enough to tell me what was wrong.

"Uka...why does nii-san hate me…" Aurora asked, he voice raw from crying. I took me a second to realize she meant Sasuke. I didn't realize she looked up to him that way. It broke my heart to see her struggling with this.

"He doesn't hate you, he's...just lost right now. Tomorrow I'm sure he'll be back to himself." But the look she gave me said she'd heard that already. She was about to cry again, but I held her tightly to show her she was safe. "He...well he's in a dark place right now, but we'll be here for him, ok?" It seemed to cheer her up a little, but the reality was there was nothing we could do. It was up to Sasuke to decide what he wanted.

* * *

Sasuke's View:  
When he left, the image of her face was still burned in my mind. I never wanted to see those eyes look at me that way again. Why did I care? She was just my teacher's kid! One that latched on to me and...no...she'd become more than that. I...thought of her as a little sister. It was hard for me to admit, but the fact was she'd become a part of my life I wasn't sure I could snuff out. I couldn't bring myself to move, too much swirled through my mind...and his words floated back up.

 _Damnit...damnit!_ I cursed myself for doubting everything again, closing my eyes in frustration. What was I going to do? As soon as that thought came up, four strangers appeared before me.

* * *

What they said...what my brother told me...I needed to leave. Leave everything behind, including my new found family. It wasn't as hard as I thought, if I only thought of them as no more than acquaintances I'd met in my life, I could let them go.  
Without really thinking, I found myself passing Iruka's home. I paused, sighing and went up the tree to look in the window. Aurora was asleep on the couch, her face serine, far from what it had been when she last saw me.

For a moment, my heart ached, thinking of all the pain I'd be putting her though. It passed just as quickly, knowing she'd probably forget about me after a few years. I was surprised when her eyes slowly opened, luckily she wasn't looking at me. Deciding it best to just go now, I quickly turned to leave; but a dark thought crossed my mind. What if I used her to get my mangekyou sharingan? It would be easy, she wouldn't fight back...NO! She was a child…  
I took off, running from the house, never looking back. I had to get away from her. I couldn't hurt Aurora, no matter how hard I tried to convince myself.


	15. Chapter 15

Kakashi's View:  
I didn't even have a chance to breathe after my mission, I had to run back out and save Naruto. Despite my warning, Sasuke had left the village. Apparently after I'd left him in the tree, four sound ninja cornered him, showed him his weakness and the power of the curse seal.  
Tsunade informed me about everything going on, regret forcing its way into my mind. All of the boys from the rookie nine were out there too, fighting to save Sasuke. Unfortunately, he might choose not to be saved. I feared the worst for them as well. I left the office before Tsunade could hand me another assignment.

* * *

It hadn't taken long, with the help of my hounds we tracked them down. They were heading towards The Valley of End. I was naive to think they wouldn't hurt each other. My mind came up with every possible scenario I'd come upon as I rushed to get to them.  
Forgive me...I just hope I make it in time!

* * *

The rain started to fall and I feared we'd lose their scent.  
"Pakkun?"  
"It's alright, I still have it!" Pakkun assures me. "They're here." He said, landing suddenly. I followed suite, and a pang of pain shot through me.  
"Am I too late?" I asked myself, seeing Naruto laying in the dirt, broken rocks laying around him. He wasn't moving and far too still. I leaned over him, my heart aching, I felt that I had failed at everything. I'm sorry sensei...I couldn't protect him."Naruto…" I whispered, hoping he heard me and would open his eyes. He didn't.  
"Sasuke's." Pakkun commented as he sniffed a headband laying next to the fallen blonde. The leaf sidgle had a deep slash through it, a sign he had defected from the leaf. I grabbed it before picking up Naruto.  
"If I am too late...forgive me." I told him, hoping he wasn't fainted to die here. I looked around for any sign of Sasuke being near, but saw none. He'd run off, most likely coming to grips with what he had done. He couldn't return now, not without consequence. But in the back of my mind, I hoped he would, before it was too late.  
I could feel the faint beat of Naruto's heart against my back. He was alive, but barley. The rain chose to stop right then, but had been enough to wipe out anyone’s scent. Pakkun told me he couldn't smell Sasuke any more. Naruto was more important right now anyway.

* * *

Half way home Naruto awoke, confused, but ok. He asked about Sasuke, but I couldn't answer him before medical ninja arrived to look him over. They relayed the situation and where everyone was. It could have been worse, none on our side had died, but many were injured. I guess the Sand Siblings had even lent a hand and saved them. I was grateful that they stepped in.

* * *

I dropped Naruto off at the hospital, seeing almost everyone there. I sighed, walking out of the hospital to go relieve Iruka from Aurora and explain what all happened. Though Iruka might know more about it than me. He was actually here while I...I wasn't.  
I made it to the door before running into said Chunin. He held Aurora in his arms, who looked excited and surprised to see me, holding her blue bunny tighter in excitement. Guess they'd come to wish everyone well.  
"Ma, sensei, I didn't expect you here." My voice held its normal bored tone to hide the fact that I wasn't ok. I had hoped to have a few moments to myself while walking to his house to clear my head, knowing he'd bombard me with questions. To my surprise, he wrapped his free arm around me, pulling me into a strong, half hug.  
"Kakashi…" was all he said, but I knew he wanted to say more.  
"Sasuke left." I told him point blank. This caused Aurora to pout, but there was nothing more to do. Iruka released me, looking me in the eye. He seemed worried and hurt, but not for himself. "I was too late. Naruto is safe and recovering." His face softened a little, relieved he was ok.  
"You did your best. That's all that can be done." I never realized how calming he could be. Just hearing his voice, those words...it put me at ease to hear it had been out of my hands. That didn't change the guilt I still felt over it.  
I saw Aurora reach for me, but a sudden feeling came over me and I couldn't bring myself to take her. I can't protect her. The thought had me reeling. If I couldn't protect her, how can I continue raising her? Maybe she'd be better off without me, maybe I should have never taken her in...I took a small step back.  
Iruka saw this, and a stern look crossed his face. It was almost as if he read my mind, but he couldn't say much without Aurora over hearing. She was right between us after all.  
"Kakashi, you couldn't have stopped him. He chose to leave on his own. No one could have reached him…" he tried to reason, but it didn't change the fact I had yet to hold my daughter. She was starting to get teary eyed, confused as to why I wouldn't take her. She only held love for me, and I couldn't love her back at this moment. I had to leave, clear my head. I made the hand signs and vanished to the memorial stone, Iruka yelling after me as I left.

* * *

At the stone, I talked to my fallen friend, Obito. I told him I had a team, but as always I had regrets about him not being here to see it. Maybe he would have known what to do...and maybe he would know what Aurora needed.  
"Even with this eye...I couldn't see what was going to happen. If you were still here, what would you do, Obito?" But the only answer was the wind. He'd probably say I was being stupid and an asshole.

  
A flare of chakra alerted me I wasn't alone. I glanced over my shoulder to see Iruka had followed me. He set Aurora down, wiping tears off her face and telling her something that made her nod and sit in the grass.  
"You…" the Chunin growled as he stomped towards me. "Do you realize what you've done? Your child thinks you hate her! She thinks you don't want her anymore." He had the right to chew me out. I'm the one who made her think this. _Can I do anything right?_  
"I don't know if I can…." I said softly, so she couldn't hear. I watched his face turn red, but he didn't say anything. "What if I can't protect her? What if I fail her too…" I turned back to the stone as I spoke, not wanting to see how he looked at me.

  
"Kakashi…" he started, but he didn't sound angry like he had before. He sounded like he pitied me.  
"I don't need your pity." I scoffed. "I want you to take Aurora...raise her like I couldn't…"

  
"No." He cut me off. I turned to look at him, his face wasn't red anymore. He looked more concerned than anything. "You're her father. I know it's hard and...I know you're not taking Sasuke leaving very well, but I will not let you abandon her. She needs you, and damn it you need her too." He put his hand on my shoulder, turning me to face him completely. I saw Aurora behind him picking grass and pretending to feed it to her bunny. It hurt me to think of how much I hurt her.  
Every fiber inside of me was telling me to flee, to leave it all behind. Iruka forced me to look at him again by putting his hand on my face, grounding me here.

"Don't let your pain hurt her too. She's just as lost as you." His words cut me deep. _How was he able to read me so well?_ Before I could respond, a flash of red hair appeared next to him, pulling on his pant leg. Aurora was looking up at us, holding a small yellow flower in her other hand. I noticed she had yet to look up at me, just Iruka. _What have I done?_

  
A few moments of silence passed before I decided I needed to fix what I'd done.  
"Ma, did you find some pretty flowers, caterpillar?" I didn't break eye contact with the Chunin still holding my face.

  
Iruka realized how close he had gotten and turned a pretty shade of pink as he let go. I caught one of his hands before he moved it away, pressing it back into my cheek. It had the desired effect and I got to see him blush fully. _How long has he been in love with me?_ I asked myself, realizing he didn't just chase me because of Aurora. He had genuinely been concerned about me, about how this was affecting me.

  
"For you…" Aurora held up the small flower, a common dandelion. From her, it was the sweetest thing.  
"Thank you." I said to her, but meant it for Iruka as well. I let go of his hand, which he slowly took back while looking me in the eye. He nodded, speechless as we both seemed to come to the same conclusion; we liked each other. Not just as comrades anymore. "I'm sure you two must be starving. Let's go get something to eat, eh?" I gave them an eye smile as I took Aurora's hand. She stuffed the dandelion into my pocket and beamed up at me.  
Iruka was right, I couldn't just abandon her like that. She was far too precious to me, and Iruka would never forgive me if I did. I couldn't live with that either.

* * *

The next few days were a slight blur. Jiraiya took Naruto with him on a special training mission, while Sakura had begged Tsunade to become her apprentice. Everyone was recovering well enough and back to their normal duties. That left me time to patch things with Aurora and Iruka. Aurora forgave me quickly, wanting nothing more than love and lots of hugs. Iruka on the other hand, we'd been doing a dance around the topic of our feelings for one another.  
Today I wanted to breach that topic, but I had to come up with a plan. So far the only one I had in place was rocky at best. It all depended on Aurora running into him at the academy archway while I watched from a distance.

  
So far, she'd been hesitant to get too close to the doors. The students were leaving at this time and most about ran her over in the rush to get home to their parents. The few that noticed her mostly avoided her or gave her a high five as they passed. So far the elusive teacher hadn't left, making the plan more difficult. He was supposed to exit, see her and ask where I was. Then I'd come in, saying she was so excited to see him and go from there. But as usual, my plan didn't go that way.  
An hour passed, Aurora found the swing outside the academy and was happily swinging on her own. I perched myself above her and waited, growing impatient. Another thirty minutes passed before the Chunin finally made an appearance. He saw Aurora before she saw him.

  
"Aurora? What are you doing here alone? Where's your father?" I heard the accusing tone, he was out for my blood. Perfect.  
"He's in da tree!" I forgot she'd yet to learn to keep secrets as she pointed up to me. Iruka looked up, sighing as he did.  
"And may I ask why?" The question was directed at me.  
"Ma, she wanted to see you so badly. I thought I'd bring her here." I jumped down beside Aurora, pushing the swing a little to her delight.  
"Fader said he wants to take us to dinner!" She said gleefully. This of course revealed my small lie about it being her that wanted to see him. I saw the mischievous glint in Iruka's eyes.  
"Does he now? What's the occasion?" Crap, he's on to me…  
"Well, I figured I had yet to pay you for watching her last time. So why not?" I eye smiled, hoping that answer would do. Luck was on my side for once, he agreed, seeing as I was paying.

* * *

Deciding that this was kind of like a date, I figured ramen was too casual, so I took them to the barbeque place Asuma and his team frequented. Aurora was fascinated by the grill at the table and watched quietly as the meat cooked. She knew better than to touch it, having learned that the stove at home was hot when she was two.   
"So, what is this really about?" Iruka asked after a while, looking between me and Aurora. He seemed worried I had bad news, since this isn't where we normally met.  
"Ma…well...you know I'm…" I stopped, suddenly extremely nervous. Aurora looked up, feeling my anxiety.  
"You're…?" Iruka snapped me back to the conversation. He was leaning over the table a little more, mindful of the grill.  
"You remember when Sasuke left. How you stopped me...well from making a terrible choice." His cheeks darkened again, I was starting to like making him blush. "I've been thinking, what are your feelings for me?" That practically broke the poor brunette, his face turning a bright shade of red in embarrassment.  
"I...you mean a lot to me." Iruka confessed, but he wasn't saying everything he wanted to. "I mean…" he faltered, nervously wringing his hands. I put mine on his to calm him, noting how he stiffened a little.  
"You mean a lot to me too." I caught his eye, making him look at me finally. "I just didn't realize it until that day." It was my turn to blush and I thanked the gods I had a mask on.  
"Fader, fire!" I was interrupted by Aurora's voice and looked at the grill. A piece of steak had indeed caught fire, igniting part of my sleeve, but before either Iruka or I had a chance to do anything, her chakra flared out of control, dousing the fire and the grill in a solid block of ice. The entire restaurant was slowly being engulfed in a light frost, all resonating from our table. I quickly laid out our money, some extra for damages, before grabbing her and ushering both her and Iruka out the door. This was not the place to explain what happened.

* * *

"Care to explain?" Iruka grabbed my shoulder, stopping our escape a few blocks away. He looked at Aurora, who was in my arms, then to me. She looked very sorry for what had happened, but we assured her, again, that it was ok.  
"Well, you see, she didn't take after me." I joked. "She has a kekkei genkai, one that is very rare." I explained in a more hushed tone.  
"And you were going to tell me when?" He crosses his arms, obviously not really annoyed, but playing the part. Honestly I was surprised he'd never seen her lose control.  
"Today." I smiled, feeling a cold chill from the little girl in my arms. She accidentally froze a button on my jacket and was trying to unfreeze it. I let her, knowing she couldn't really hurt me.  
"How long has this been going on?" Iruka took her hand and helped her focus her chakra to unfreeze the button. This delighted her and she did it again, making a game of freezing and unfreezing different buttons.   
"A few months. We've been working on it, but it's controlled by her emotions. Eventually we'll get there." Iruka had a look of concern.  
"I hate to say it, but we need to try to get control over it. If the wrong person sees her…if they knew she was from the Yuki clan..." So he knew about her bloodline too then.  
"I know." I was still hung up on the fact he said we. As in us. "You think we can do it?"

* * *

I had more missions thrown at me because "I had too much free time," as Tsunade put it. With none of my students around, she used the excuse to keep me busy. This left little time for me to dote on Aurora or Iruka, which left a piece of me yearning for them during each mission.  
It shocked me how much my mind wandered to the Chunin. _How was he doing? Was Aurora safe with him, asleep? Do they miss me as much as I miss them?_ Even Tenzou had picked up on my anxiety.

  
"I'm sure she's fine." He said as he sat next to me, handing me a ration bar. He had no idea about Iruka, I intended to keep it that way. At least until we were official.  
"Ma, I know…" she was safe, but that's not where my mind was, and I was trying to get these thoughts out. What I really wanted to know was how Iruka's lips felt against mine. How his skin would feel against mine as we undressed...I stopped those thoughts, not wanting to have to take care of the problem that came with those thoughts. I decided then that as soon as I got back, I'd find the answers.

  
We were delayed a week by some bandits. They weren't very skilled and easy to take down, the problem was there were a lot of them. They'd been terrorizing travelers between Konaha and Suna for a while and our mission was only to deal with them as needed. They made it more difficult by trying to fight us off. Most were not deterred by us, but some were smart and fled. The ones that didn't, well their blood now stained the gravel and grass on the road.  
Finally the gates were in sight, all I could think about was getting to Iruka's. I handed the report off to Tenzou quickly and rushed off, not realizing I had bandit blood over the front of me.

* * *

Iruka was startled when I jumped through his open window. Honestly, it was on him for leaving it open in the first place…  
"Gods Kakashi, can't you use the door? Are you hurt?!" His tone changed to worry at the sight of blood. I looked down sheepishly, seeing how much there was. It was a wonder he didn't strip me down to stop the bleeding of the nonexistent wound.

  
"Ma, I'm fine. Not mine." Iruka didn't like that answer either.  
"You can't have Aurora see you like this." He glared, motioning for me to follow him to his room. I noticed Aurora was curled up on a chair, fast asleep and oblivious to me. Finally, I have him alone.

* * *

  
Iruka gave me a set of clothes to change into, though the shirt was a little small. Iruka may be built wider than me, but I still had height on him. It just came to above the waistband of my pants. I caught Iruka watching me before quickly turning away, the cute blush dusting his cheeks.  
"See something you like, sensei?" I teased him, watching the blush creep to the back of his neck. "You don't have to be shy."  
"I-I'm not…" His voice cracked a little. I crept up behind him and hugged him around his waist. I felt him jump, but he didn't resist or pull away. "K-Kakashi-san?"  
"Hm?" I laid my head on his shoulder, pressing my cheek against his ear. He felt delightfully warm and smelled of sandalwood; I wish now I had left my mask down to feel his skin against mine.

  
"I'm glad you're back." He said so softly, I almost didn't catch it. That broke me. I pulled my mask down and turned his face towards mine, the look of shock on him wasn't lost to me. I let him take in my looks for a moment before closing the gap between us, crashing our lips together in a heated kiss.  
His lips were how I imagined, soft, but slightly chapped. I felt him turn in my arms, not breaking the kiss to wrap his arms around my neck. I playfully bit his lower lip, which made him moan, allowing me to explore his mouth further. He surprised me by how good he was, I guess he wasn’t as “pure” as I thought.   
As our tongues battled for dominance, he somehow backed me into his bed, both of us crashing down with him straddling my waist. I reached up and tangled my hand into his hair, tearing it from the ponytail he had it in, letting it fall lose. He was beautiful...I had no idea how hot he was with his hair down.  


I moved to bite his neck to distract him as I flipped us over, changing our position. I looked down at him, his hair splayed out in a halo around him and decided to ask him if this was ok. If we went too far, I wasn't sure I could stop.  
"Iruka...do you," he cut me off by pulling me into another deep kiss.

  
"If I didn't, I would have thrown you out the door." He smirked as he ground his hips up into mine. _Damn him…_  
With a grunt I pushed him back down, pinning his hands above his head as I bit and kissed at his neck while my other hand found its way under his shirt. He arched his body into mine, trying to trick me into letting his hands go. Instead, I found his nipple which made him completely forget he was trying to get free. At some point we lost our shirts, exposing more of him, allowing me to leave marks all over his chest.   
“Maa, sensei I had no idea you were so sensitive.” He growled, not amused with me teasing him, bucking his hips again to try to throw me off balance. “And impatient.” I let go, his hand quickly tangling themselves into my hair as we kissed again. Now I could move my free hand to where we really wanted it to be, trailing my finger tips slowly down his side as I made my way to the hemline of his pants. He gasped softly as I slipped my hand down them, taking ahold of his length.

  
“Kakashi…” Iruka moaned, tightening his hold and leaving marks down my back. I wanted him to say my name like that again...

  
It hadn't occurred to me how loud we were until both of us were practically naked and Iruka looked at the door. He gasped, which I took as excitement. That was quickly squashed when he yanked my hand away and sat up. At first I thought I'd done something wrong until a little voice told me, no I'd done it right, but we had company.  
"Daddy?"  
"Aurora?" Iruka's voice was surprisingly steady for a man who was just getting a handjob.  
"What are you doing?" She no longer looked sleepy, but shocked and worried I was hurting our lovely Chunin.

  
"Ma…we're training." I lied, but what was I gonna tell a three year old? I hadn't realized she'd seen my hand in Iruka's shorts until she blurted it out.  
"Why were you touching Uka's no spot?" I'd told her no one should ever touch someone there after an incident with Gai. She hadn't meant to of course, but she'd kicked him there while playing. She asked why it hurt him so much and of course Gai explained in the only way possible; Enthusiastically. In great detail, I might add. There were questions that I had no idea needed to be asked. I told her a lot of people won't appreciate a three year old knowing the word penis, so I told her to call it a no spot.  
This was not going to be easy to explain. That's when Iruka decided to step in.  
"Well...you see, when two people are...in love." He blushed and paused for a moment. "Sometimes they will touch there. But you have to ask first and you are far too young to be doing that!" He said sternly, hoping not to confuse her too much. Sex wasn't easy to explain to children.  
She looked confused, probably because as far as she knew it wasn't ok for anyone but her or a trained doctor to touch there. I wasn't a doctor or anything close to that, so why was it ok?

  
"Why?" _Called that question_ … Iruka did not, his mind wasn't processing fast enough to answer.  
"Some day, you'll understand." I covered. She huffed, crossing her arms, but knew that was the end of it. She hated when I pulled that card.  
Iruka squirmed under me, alerting me of both our problems still between us. I was able to maneuver a blanket from the foot of the bed up to us and covered us from the waist down. I also moved so I wasn't on top of him, but cuddled into him.  
"Are we staying?" Aurora was excited by the fact that we might be having a sleepover. I wasn't planning on us staying the night, but I couldn't really go anywhere right now. To be honest I wasn't sure if I wanted to leave, ever.  
"Er...well I-I suppose that's fine." Iruka seemed to have recovered a bit, but was probably distracted by my hand going back up his leg from under the blanket. He gave me a warning look, one that told me I should stop, but I wasn't going too.  
After a happy goodnight from her she skipped away, leaving us in a very awkward situation. I wanted to continue, but Iruka had turned so red I thought he might explode.  
"I completely forgot she was here…" he admitted. I couldn't help it and burst out laughing. That got me a hard slap across my chest.  
"Sorry, sorry. Ma...I should have placed a silencer seal." I smiled, hearing him laugh becoming my new favorite sound.

* * *

Waking up to someone next to me wasn't as usual any more. Waking up to a naked Chunin entangled in my arms...that was new. Last night came flooding back to me, making me have to bite my lip to keep any sounds from escaping. _Damn he’s flexible..._  
Iruka and I had more than confessed our feelings, despite the little interruption. We'd left our marks on one another and I was particularly proud of a deep purple hickey across his left shoulder. He'd left a decent one on my hip though as pay back, but now I owed him a blowjob in return. 

  
I didn't want to wake him, but I knew at any moment our little girl could burst in, asking why we were now naked together in bed. I did not want to explain why we were naked and what was drying on Iruka's back. Gently I ran my hand through his tangled hair, causing him to stir.  
"Morning." I smiled at him as he finally opened his eyes. He seemed a little shocked at first, probably not used to waking up with someone either.

  
"Morning." He said sleepily, cuddling closer into me. I really didn't want to move now. I traced lazy circles on his arm, not wanting this moment to end. "We should get up…" he sounded like he was almost asleep again.

  
"Hm...I suppose. We might have a visitor soon." This made his eyes shoot open, suddenly very aware we were naked. "Ma, after all we did, you still get all flustered?"  
"Kakashi…" he warned playfully. "Fine, you explain to her what we were doing." Iruka smirked, getting up and pulling his pants on. He threw mine at me while asking what to do for breakfast. _I could get used to this…_


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized I need to start another story that will tie into this one! Look out for that one coming up! Please R&R!

Iruka had been moping around lately. He didn't think I noticed, but I knew he missed Naruto. The blonde brat had become like a little brother to him, or maybe more of a son...That was still up in the air.  
"Uka looks sad." Aurora said to me after he left for work. Lately, we'd taken to staying over at his place. Though it was a little small, and my place would have been better, but Iruka was stubborn.  
"Hm?" I played along for Aurora as we got ready to leave.  
"We should cheer him up!" She beamed. What she had in mind though, she never said. I could think of a few, but none of them were exactly PG.

* * *

  
Back home, I lead her to our tiny backyard for some much needed training. I had fallen behind on her and regretted not at least making her learn the basic forms. Luckily, she was a fast learner and had the basic katta forms down within a few hours.

When we got to chakra control however, she faltered. Freezing and unfreezing things she could do just fine, it was controlling what she froze was the problem. First it was the grass, then the bird bath and then finally the bottle she was supposed to freeze. This frustrated her to the point she has a tantrum and froze the entire yard.

"Maa...you did good." I assured her as she pouted in the middle of the yard.

  
"I can't!" She sobbed, upset she couldn't get the yard cleared of ice. At least she'd got it to the point it was just frost. The plants however might not survive this training.

  
"Yes you can. Remember what I told you?" I looked up from my Icha Icha book to see her kick the frosty grass and crosses her arms. "You need to focus." _Teaching Genin was a breeze compared to this._

  
She huffed again, throwing herself on the ground. Solid ice radiated from around her in a spiral pattern. I had to stop a full out fit before the poor roses died.

  
"Alright, that's enough." I sighed, closing my book and walking over to her. I had to use my chakra to keep myself from slipping. "Deep breath." I knelt down and rubbed her back as she cried in frustration into the grass. She said something, but I didn't hear it. "Hm?" I tried to get her to sit up to look at me.

  
"I don't want it!" She sobbed. The ice was starting to climb up the oak tree in the yard. Someone was bound to see if I didn't get her to calm down.

  
"Don't want what?" I asked, scooping her up and pulling her close. I sat in the grass with her in my lap, waiting for her to tell me. I watched the ice turn a pale pink when it caught the sunlight. _What in the…?_

  
"I don't want the ice…" she said softly, rubbing her eyes. "I don't like it." Of course she didn't, she'd only seen it cause fear and resentment.

  
"Maa...why?" I wanted to know her reasons.

  
"Everyone is scared of me." She laid her head against my chest, the ice turning back to a normal blueish shade. I had to figure out why it changed color.

  
"Well, that's because they don't understand. They don't see what a gift you truly have." She looked up at me, her purple eyes full of questions that she couldn't put into words. "You have a...unique ability that not a lot of people have. That scares them, but it doesn't mean you should stop." I noticed the ice melted, leaving little puddles in its wake.

  
"Even If I can't control it?" She asked.

  
"Especially then. The more practice you get, the more control you'll have." This put a fire in her eyes, a determined look crossed her face. She got up out of my lap, and touched a muddy puddle. The puddle froze, but to my surprise it rose up into an icicle as tall as her. Despite the fact the water was dirty, the ice was crystal clear. _She has more control than I thought…_

  
"Look it!" She cried excitedly. I must have looked shocked, because she got the look she got when she was in trouble. "I do bad?"

  
"No! Er...no." I composed myself. "You...did well." Better than I imagined. This made her beam and proceeded to do that with all the puddles. Soon, the yard was full of icicles of various sizes and shapes, making it look like a spiky, winter wonderland. I had to stand to avoid getting poked a few times. Eventually she got tired from the chakra drain, but it took longer than normal. _I need to do more research..._

  
"Maa...good job." I was thoroughly impressed. Never in all my years had I seen someone so young perform this well. Well, maybe except Itachi.

* * *

  
We had just made it inside when a flash of chakra behind me appeared. I turned to see Tenzō in the middle of the icicle labyrinth. The look on his face was priceless.

  
"Come to join the party?" I asked, making him look up at me.

  
"What happened? I felt an odd chakra coming from here." He asked, stepping over the slowly melting ice. Aurora's chakra was fading from it, making it melt faster than it normally would. I expected by noon the yard would be a mud pit.

  
"Just us." I said as Aurora hugged my leg, looking out to see who it was. This made Tenzō do a double take, shocked she was the one to do it. _Maybe I should start telling a few people about her._

  
"She...you...why would you…?" I held my hand up to silence his stammering.

  
"Not really something I wanted to shout to the world." I told him as I picked up the sleepy redhead. She laid her head on my shoulder, chakra depletion taking over.

"Honestly, she surprised me too. Want to come inside?" I wasn't sure who else could be nearby. If Tenzō sensed it, so did the rest of the ANBU. I didn't need them breathing down my neck.

* * *

  
Tenzō sat at the table, hot tea untouched in front of him, as I explained everything about Aurora. He never took his eyes off her, asleep in my arms, fussing if I tried to set her down. Tenzō took it in, learning of her Yuki and Hōzuki heritage and how her powers were starting to show.

"Those clans...they're of Mist origin." He seemed to be talking himself through this. "Does that mean hunter nin have tried to come for her?" He worried, but I shook my head.

"Either they think she's dead or have given up." I'd need to look into that again, to make sure no one was after her. My answer made Tenzō's face darken, like he knew something I didn't. "Unless...you've heard something?"

He sighed, the weight of it not lost to me. "There's a rumor going around that the Mist has sent out tracker ninja in the area. No one has confirmed it as of yet, but…" he looked at Aurora. "I have a feeling I know what they're after."  
My mind swirled with different reasons as to why, but the only one that made sense was Tenzō's theory. But the question was, why now after all this time?

* * *

  
After agreeing to let an ANBU agent hang around my house, Tenzō left to report about a mission he'd come from. I was glad he had stopped by, with this new information I could set better traps around the house. I was setting one up outside the front door when Iruka showed up. I wondered how he found my home before coming to the conclusion that Aurora must have led him here at some point.

"Fine, I admit your place is bigger." He joked as I let him in. "But that doesn't mean I'm moving in." _Wouldn't that be a dream._

"Ma, I never asked." I watched him pout a little, deciding that was a very cute look on him. _Maybe I'd make him beg for me later.._ _._

"What the…" he had walked into the small dining area and was looking out the sliding glass door. "Why is your yard so muddy?" The realization hit him as soon as he said it.  
"Training." I shrugged, spinning a chair around and resting my chin on the back of it. "Wasn't like my yard was pristine anyway." Not with my ninkin...they loved to dig.

"How did she do?" He sat next to me, choosing not to sit in it backwards like me.

"She...did better than I thought. Have you ever heard of ice that changes color?" The look of shock told me he hadn't either.

"No?" He said slowly, wondering what the hell I was talking about.

"Maa...I'm sure it's nothing." But he didn't let me go without explaining. I sighed at his determination. "Her ice turned pink when she got upset."

"Pink? That's odd…" Iruka at least agreed with me that it was unusual. "Where is she now?"

"Passed out in her room. She used quite a bit of chakra up." I said, absently playing with my glove. 

* * *

  
Tonight I finally convinced Iruka to stay here, with some protest from the burnette. I just had to make sure he was too tired to leave, or passed out from mind blowing sex. The latter worked quite well. This time I remembered to put a seal on the door so we wouldn't be interrupted, learning quickly that Iruka was quite vocal.

"Ah....!" He cried out as I found his prostate again. I also learned that he loved being taken from behind, face pushed into the matress as we fucked. From this angle, I could easily nip at his ear lode and pull his hair as I rammed into him. Thank kami we both liked it rough, I couldn't stop myself when he moaned my name. 

"K-Kakashi…" From the sound of his voice, and the way he was clenched around me, told me he was about to cum. I reached around, taking his cock into my hand and helping him finally get there. I hoped the seal I put up was strong enough, cause the scream he let out made my ears pleasantly ring. He finally let me cum inside tonight, wanting to feel me fill him. There was no way I was going back to letting it cool on his back when I could mark him as mine this way. 

* * *

  
Despite having a passionate evening with my lover, I couldn't sleep. Even though I wanted to curl up against Iruka and pass out with him in my arms, my mind wouldn't let me. It kept going back to what Tenzō said, about the tracker nin creeping around the village. I knew that there was no way they knew where Aurora was, but I always came up with the worst possible situation.

Iruka rolled over, freeing me from his embrace and allowing me to get up. I missed his warmth, but I couldn't bring myself to go back to bed. I watched his sleeping, form for a while as I thought of what to do with myself. I crept out of the room and went downstairs, before Iruka noticed I was up.

* * *

  
I checked all my traps over and over to make sure, setting back ups to my back ups. As a Jonin, I was already paranoid, but even this might be overkill. Once that was done, I went up to the roof to watch, for what I didn't know. It wasn't like they'd get this far into the village without someone noticing. The night air helped clear my head, helping me realize I was being far too overprotective. But what else could I do? I had a three year old to look after...one that was being hunted again.

* * *

  
I watched the sunrise, not having moved from my spot since...well I lost track. I couldn't go on like this, not knowing if a threat was imminent had me on edge; So much so that when Iruka came up to check on me, I pinned him down with a kunai to his throat. _Oh, now I really fucked up…_

He put his hands up non threateningly to show he meant no harm. I quickly helped him up, mumbling apologies, scratching the back of my head to keep myself from running.

"Kakashi, what's going on?" He looked worried. Only then did I notice I was up here shirtless, only my mask and some pants on. I really was losing it.

"Maa...it's…" I sighed, deciding not to lie to him about this. "There may be Mist tracker ninja around." His eyes widened, worry and fear seeping into his body.

"You think they're after her?" Iruka asked, handing me the shirt he had brought up. He must have seen it still on the floor. I pulled it on, hoping he'd understand by my silence that yes, they were after her. "I don't think tiring yourself out is going to help." He was right. There was an ANBU across the way watching the entire night as well. They hadn't come to see what was wrong, they would only move if there was an actual threat.

"I know…" but I would do it anyway. Until the threat was gone, I wasn't going to sleep well for a while.

* * *

  
The nights went that way for the next few weeks. Between missions and late night watches, I was wearing myself thin. Iruka kept forcing me to stay in bed, at least until he passed out from a long day of teaching. Then I'd be on the roof, waiting. That's where he would find me every morning, with coffee in his hands. Usually he'd swat me on the back of the head, but today he took pity and just sat with me. He handed me one of the cups, which I gladly took and drank it desperately.

"At least you're fully clothed this time." Only once had I come up here naked, with just my mask of course. The ANBU nearly fell off the roof at that sight. Iruka had thoroughly scolded me after covering me with a blanket. That's what you get when you're paranoid and horny...

"Ma...I didn't feel like giving a show." I settled next to him, laying my head on his shoulder. I was exhausted, but I didn't let on. I felt him running his free hand through my hair.  
"Will you be alright when I leave for work?" He asked, knowing deep down I needed a break.

"Hm...I'll make it." I kissed his cheek through my mask. "Though I can think of a better way to spend the day." That got me a smack on the back of the head.  
"You really are a perv…"

* * *

  
Aurora seemed to be even more rambunctious today. Maybe sleep deprivation was getting to me, or she had sugar without me knowing. That was a possibility, seeing as Ino had passed us on the way to the park. She always had something for Aurora, weather it was candy or a flower, though I preferred when she got flowers.

I watched her and a few kids play tag. Most avoided her, but some didn't care and still played with her. I don't know when, but at some point a group had her cornered by the slide. I watched, no longer reading my book.

One said something and another pushed her down. She looked more stunned than anything, but I knew what was coming. I slammed my book shut, getting the attention of some kids. They fled to their parents, knowing it was bad when I got angry.

I made it to the edge of the sand box when it happened, not ice, but a small wave of water hit the kids around her. _That's new…_  
She looked at her hands, which she had pushed forward to block another push from the kid. _Great, now her Hōzuki side is showing._

"Aurora, time to go home." I called to her as the wet kids were running away.

* * *

  
This incident had caught the attention of ANBU and worst, ROOT. Danzō's goons were out, I could feel them in every shadow. Aurora stuck much closer to me, feeling their hungry eyes on her. This was what I wanted to avoid, but life happens and things never go the way I intended.

"Come out already." I growled, and soon we were surrounded by black cloaked ninja. Their masks looked like ANBU, but they were not on our side. Aurora held tightly onto my leg, terrified by them and the hate spilling off of them.

"Danzō wants to speak with you." One of them said, I couldn't tell which one.

"Tell him, I'm not interested." I spat.

"He wants nothing to do with you." Another said from behind. _I figured that…_

"If any of you come near her, I will personally take the time to take you apart." It wasn't a threat, it was a promise. I would do it, gladly.

"That a threat Hatake?" All of them got ready to fight, but stopped when ANBU showed up between us.

"You sure took your time." I said to the back of Tenzō's head. The ROOT members decided it wasn't worth it and took off.

"Apologies, we weren't aware they had come out to play." He said, his team making sure it was clear and following some of the ROOT back into the shadows. "Are you alright?" Tenzō turned to me and looked down at Aurora. She had no idea who he was in his uniform. All people in masks scared her right now, and from her point of view, there was no difference between ROOT and ANBU.

"It's ok, you can trust him." I told her. She should fear ANBU, but not distrust them. They were the good guys, well most of them. Tenzō knelt down and held his hand up for her, but she buried her face into my pant leg. Eventually she'd be able to tell good from bad.

* * *

  
That incident amped up my training with Aurora. Anytime we had together was spent training, I couldn't afford to let it slip anymore. Aurora was sitting on the ground, panting from our sparing. I never went too hard on her, knowing if I hit her full force I could seriously hurt her. I had drilled into her head that even though I held back, the people after her would not. She was to go at me full force, no matter what. So far, she hadn't.

"Aurora, you won't hurt me. Hit me with all you got." I looked down at her, hands still in my pockets. There had been no need to block anything yet.

"I am!" She glared. The air finally got a cold chill to it, a sign she was getting angry.

"No, you're not. You need to stop holding back. If you do in a real fight, it could cost you your life." A harsh life lesson, but one that needed to be said. "So do it." She glared at the ground, tears in her eyes.

"I don't want to hurt you…" _Not this again…_

"You won't." She was too small right now to do much damage. She could however take me on, but she had to get over the fact it was me. "Try again." I felt the air turn bitter, the ice biting into my clothing. _Good...us that against me._

She leapt up, aiming a kick toward my head which was easily dodged. Every punch or kick was easy to avoid, she wasn't going for where she should. I thought she'd caught on, but even tucking my hands away as a hint, it was above her head. I hadn't meant to, but hard kick landed in her gut, sending her flying back. _Shit!_

 _What did I just..._ before I knew it she flew at me with such a speed, I barely had time block. The anger in her eyes, and the ice forming in the grass, seemed to have a red tint to it as she landed an ice covered fist to my thigh. This cause me to fall to my knees, forcing me to use my right arm to block a punch aimed at my throat. Catching her fist pulled her out of this odd rage and she got upset. Tears fell as she apologized and ran to hug me.

"Maa...you did what I wanted you to do." _And scared the living shit out of me._ The ice was gone, the hot summer air once again beating down around us. If this was her true power, I needed to find out what I was dealing with.

* * *

  
The library held nothing on her clans. Not even the restricted section...I should have figured that, but it wasn't like Konaha had never had a Yuki or Hōzuki living there before. There had been a few, though most suppressed their power after the Third Mizukage's decree.

Aurora was sitting at a nearby table, reading up on chakra control. She looked bored, having had this information taught to her since I had adopted her. Iruka even had tested her knowledge a few times, always impressing him with what she knew.

"Fader, I'm bored…" she said, laying her head on the scroll.

"Do you have it memorized?" I teased, earning a groan from her. "Alright...here." I pulled a book about water jutsus. "Let's see if you can learn one of these." She eagerly took it, quickly becoming absorbed in it. This let me sneak off to search the ANBU section, where even I wasn't permitted.

* * *

  
This yielded more information, but still nothing on why her anger or other emotions affected the color of ice. I was however able to read up on the Hōzuki clan. Only two members were known, with only one still alive, Suigetsu and Mangetsu. No one was really sure what happened, but Mangetsu was killed and Suigetsu had disappeared. I wonder...was Mangetsu her father? Seeing as a head was never found, we'll never know who the male was. I certainly hope not, he was a cold blooded murderer.

I rolled the clan scroll back up, picking up another that held information about bodies brought into Konoha. This one held what I wanted, a fully detailed autopsy of Aurora's mother and father.

Of course I knew most of it, the woman was dark haired, with dark purple eyes that looked black and pale skin. Though she was Yuki, a second test showed she had Uzumaki blood as well. Though it was likely her great-great-great grandmother was an Uzumaki, Aurora, nor her mother, held their abilities. It could however explain her emotions affecting her ice color and explained her red hair. Her father was a full blooded Hōzuki, which chilled me to the bone. It confirmed the fear that Mangetsu was in fact her father.

A dark feeling came over me after this realization. No wonder the hunter ninja were out that night, no wonder he was torn to bits. _But why was he fleeing here?_ He would have been killed on sight here too...it had to be her. The woman he was with, she held the key to this. Aurora was proof he had loved her...and that scared me. Her true parentage was going to haunt her the rest of her life, and she had no idea.

* * *

  
After I hid any evidence of me being in the ANBU section, I returned to where Aurora had been. I looked around, but she was gone. Panic quickly took over, I searched for her with my chakra, but to my surprise, she was still inside the building. I went back to the book she had been reading, which was opened up to a technique to make yourself invisible to the naked eye by making you body into water. Of course, this would be a breeze with her clan abilities. If she really had learned the hydrification technique on top of this one, I won't be able to find her without my sharingan.

"Ok, little lady, come out." I called out, mindful of the fact we were in a library. I heard a giggle behind me and she appeared from a bookcase.

"You found me!" she laughed, the librarian shushing her.

"Maa, good job." This was an interesting day.


	17. Chapter 17

Iruka's View:

Kakashi was pushing himself to the breaking point. I had caught him sleeping in a tree and if I was able to sneak up on him anyone could have. Aurora was playing in the flowers just below. If I hadn't known better, he looked like he was just reading. It was the angle of the book that gave him away.

"Kakashi!" I yelled up to him. He jumped awake, nearly falling out of the tree.

"Maa, sensei. Just the man I was thinking of." I rolled my eyes at him.

"Father is tired." Aurora informed me while holding up a bunch of blue flowers she'd picked. "This help?" She asked me. She was so thoughtful.

"That's nice, but I think a good night's sleep would do him some good." She still gave me the flowers, hoping to try and help.

"Maa...who needs sleep?" The silver haired Jonin finally came down. On closer inspection, he looked more pale than usual, his visible eye had a dark ring under it and he looked thinner than normal. How I missed that I'm not sure.

"Come one, let's get you both home." I took Aurora's hand, Kakashi lagging behind us. I was sure if he kept going like this, he'd surely would pass out.

* * *

  
Once at his place, I ushered him upstairs. Twice I had to keep him from groping my ass and pulling me into bed with him. Even a sleep deprived Kakashi was quite strong and hard to get away from. Finally, after pinning him down, he agreed to sleep for a while as long as I rewarded him later. I promised I'd keep watch and that had his sleepy mind put at ease. I quietly exited the room, making sure the door didn't creek or slam.

I found Aurora still downstairs, playing with the doll house.  
"Shall we made dinner?" I asked her, which of course excited her. She loved helping me cook.

* * *

  
An hour after I put her to bed, Kakashi was up and looked dazed. He hadn't slept enough.

"Kakashi, why are you up?" I whispered, not wanting to spook the tired Jonin. He looked at me at least, seeming to wake up a little more.

"Food?" He asked, which I had to laugh at. Of course the smell of food awoke him. I doubted he'd eaten much when I wasn't here. He probably made Aurora food but none for himself, living off ratios bars at best. Typical.

* * *

  
Kakashi's View:

I wasn't really sure how I would survive if Iruka wasn't there to take care of me. I hadn't even really made it more than down the stair last night before falling back to sleep on my couch. That's where I woke up, dazed at the fact I had allowed myself to get to this state.

"Figured out that you don't need to push yourself like this yet?" Iruka asked from the bottom of the stairs. I didn't hear him come down.

"Eh...well…" I sighed, not wanting to admit he was right. "You stayed?" I quickly changed it back to him. He blushed as I eyed him, he'd forgotten his shirt upstairs and had his hair down. If Aurora hadn't come bounding down the stairs seconds later, I might have had him up against the front door.

"Father, why are you down here?" She asked. I noticed, to my dismay, her baby talk was fading. My heart sank, she was growing up too fast. Even in her tiny sleep dress, she looked more grown up.

"Late night." I waved it off, hoping she wouldn't ask anything else. It was too early and I was in a crisis of my baby growing up. I couldn't cry like Gai, that'd scare both of them and I'd for sure be institutionalized.

* * *

  
Iruka had classes today and I had a two day mission to leave on, which left me no choice but to leave her with Gai today. She'd gotten used to his strange antics, but she had yet to meet his team. She had the pleasure to meet Lee first when we got to the training field. That's where I was supposed to just drop her off, but Gai of course challenged me and I was forced to do a stupid competition with him.

"Yosh! That eighty to eight one!" He said as I beat him to the top of the tree. I really hadn't been keeping track and didn't care too.

I hopped down to see Aurora learning to make daisy chains with TenTen, and Lee saying how proud he was that she had learned it so fast. Neji was leaning on the tree near them, watching with his Byakugan active. He must have picked up her odd chakra.

"Well, if that's all, I must be going." I told them as Gai landed in front of me. _Now what?_

"Alright, my rival. Good luck on your next mission! She'll be safe with me!" He gave a good guy pose before letting me say goodbye to Aurora. She put a daisy chain on my head, telling me it would be good luck. I didn't have the heart to take it off until I was out of their sight.

* * *

  
Aurora's view:

I have no idea who this other guy in green was, but he's just as odd as Gai-sensei. Both of the strange green men walked on their hands for hours. TenTen-chan and Neji-kun showed me how to do it, but we didn't do it as long as they did. Neji taught me to backflip after that, but all I could do was roll. I promised to practice.  
TenTen showed me her pretty kunai, telling me to be super careful 'cause they were sharp.

"Can you show me?!" I asked, watching her eyes sparkle.

"You're so cute! Of course I'll show you." She threw the kunai straight into the tree in front of us, happy it had hit a knot in the wood.

"Ok, hold it like this. Good! Now put one foot here and the other there." I shifted my feet into the correct stance. She took my hand and guided me through how to throw and when to let go. "Ok, ready? Throw!" I threw it, but it landed in the dirt in front of the tree. "Good try! That's further than I got my first time." I could tell she was being nice.

"K-kkk-keep going Auro-chan!" Lee said, straining as he tried to keep himself on his hands. His arms were all shaky and he looked like he might fall over.

"Keep pushing Lee!" Gai-sensei cheered, not even breaking a sweat yet. TenTen just gave them a look like she was done with their antics.

I kept throwing kunai at the tree while Gai sensei changed it up, having his team spar. Neji-kun was really good, but Lee-kun was able to keep up. I wanted to know why Neji had strange eyes, but I hadn't had a chance to ask. There were different from Sasuke-nii's and Father's eye. I over hear Lee saying "byakugan" but I didn't know what that was. TenTen was really good with weapons, some she used I'd never seen before.

After the tenth miss, I was getting frustrated and threw one as hard as I could. It finally hit, I guess I wasn't throwing hard enough. After figuring that out, I was able to hit the bark over and over, almost in the same area each time. This caught Gai-sensei's attention and he was now focused on me.

"Very good! Now, I want you to try with the other hand. It's never too soon to learn to use both hands in a fight!" I was confused by what he meant by that. I always fought with both hands. Father had made sure of that. He took the kunai and put it in my other hand. "Now go!" He beamed. I didn't like all this attention on me, and felt scared under his watch.

From behind him, I saw Neji-kun looking at me with those eyes and felt uneasy under his gaze. It was like he could see right through me. I dropped the kunai, stepping back towards Gai-sensei to get away from his stare. He just followed me with his eyes.

"Your chakra is unstable." Neji-kun said, no emotion in his voice. "It's like looking into a pool of water, full of chakra. How is that possible?" _What was he talking about?_

"Now Neji, it's not nice to do that. Everyone has a different chakra." Gai-sensei scolded him.

"I've never seen one like hers." The white eyed boy said to me in a dark tone.

"Neji, you're scaring her, stop it!" TenTen crossed her arms and stepped between us. "I don't think she can explain why. Those aren't questions for a child to know the answer to." At least she understood.

"I was her age when I learned what I was…" Neji-kun had turned his hate to her, but she didn't seem to let it get to her.

Gai-sensei sent them home after that, wanting Neji-kun to "think about others feelings."

He sighed heavily and he knelt in front of me, putting his hand on my shoulder.

"Sorry about that, kiddo. Neji has a hard time letting people in. He has yet to learn the proper way to talk to people." Gai grinned. "Now then, let's get back to weapons training!" Before he made me, I had questions I needed answered.

"Why are Neji-kun's eyes weird? Why did he say my chakra is...instable." I tried, wondering what that word meant. "Why did he get upset?" Each question made Gai's smile drop a little. "What does chakra filled water look like?"

"Uh...well. His eyes aren't "weird." They are the Byakugan, a Dojutsu." I had no idea what that word was. "It's a kekkei genkai that's only in the Hyuuga clan. It can see people's chakra points. As for what he saw in you, I don't know. But! It was rude of him to do that to you." Gai smiled again. "Does that help?"

I shrugged, still not knowing what the Hyuuga was or what a Dojutsu is. It did clear up why I felt invaded. He saw my chakra points. After that, it was back to training.  
Gai-sensei had me switch back and forth between which hand I threw a shuriken or kunai. Soon, I was able to hit the targets he set up closer to the center. I was getting tired, but he forced me to push past it and continue. I hated it.

"Can we please stop?" I panted, I couldn't move my arms.

"Once more!" He was still full of energy. I couldn't anymore! I felt my chakra start seep from me, the air turning cold again as I lost control. The more tired I was, the less control I had. Father and daddy both told me I should try to control it if I could, but they didn't understand how hard that was. It reacted to my feelings, which I couldn't control.

"I can't." I begged him not to make me do this; my control slipping and the ice started to form under me. He had his back to me though so he didn't see. He was punching a tree, while standing on the other hand. He'd been switching arms when I switched, "to keep it fair," according to him.

"Yosh, ready, left hand!" he switched, and my control slipped when he wouldn't listen. I hated it when grown ups didn't listen.  
The ice spread in a spiral pattern towards Gai-sensei.

"Gai-kun!" I cried, as it hit him, freezing him solid as he flipped to his feet, a stern look on his face. I froze him in this pose. I hurt him. "GAI?!" I cried, tears running down my face. I didn't see, but the ice around me turned a dark purple as I ran to Gai. My foot steps causing the ice to spread. I hugged the ice around him, hoping it would unfreeze like it normally did, but it didn't. It turned dark purple around the edges. That's when I looked around, the forest around us had frozen in a mix of dark purple and white; snow was falling around me.

"No...no please!" I sobbed, trying to undo what I did but I couldn't stop crying. I couldn't stop feeling guilty for hurting Gai. "Father! I'm sorry! Please, Gai!" I didn't know what to do.

I felt someone land behind us but was too upset to turn around. "Aurora!" I recognized that voice. I turned around and wiped my eyes, it was the guy in the mask. The one Father said was ok...Tenzō-oji?

"Please! I can't!" I begged him to help me. In a blink of an eye he was behind me with his hand in the middle of my back. I felt my chakra drain from me, the ice around us vanishing as I fell into his arms.

"I've got you, it's ok." the man I think was Tenzō-oji said as I fell asleep.

* * *

  
I woke up in a weird white room, daddy was next to my bed fast asleep in a chair. I looked out the window and saw it was daytime again. _How long did I sleep?_ I tapped his hand, waking him up with a sudden jump. He smiled and hugged me tightly.

"Aurora! You're ok." He said softly. He looked sad.

"Is Gai ok?" I asked, for some reason my throat hurt.

"He's fine. Lady Tsunade was able to get him out of the ice." Iruka said as he handed me water. It helped my throat. "What happened?"

"Gai and I were training, and...I told him I couldn't anymore and lost control." At least he didn't look angry, but he had the look he got when he was sorry for someone. "I'm sorry…"

"Sorry? What for?" He let me go to look at me. "For Gai? It's...going to be fine."

* * *

  
Iruka's View:

Aurora looked so guilty for what happened. She didn't mean to and all of us were still learning what set off these outbursts. So far it was emotions and I was starting to think when she got tired, she lost more control over those. It made since, she was still very young. I got her to settle back down and rest, telling her she can visit Gai when she was better.

* * *

  
Kakashi's View:

The second I get home, Tenzō finds me and informs me of everything that's happened. He also told me he knew I had broken into the ANBU archives, which had led a ROOT operative to the same conclusion I had found. _Well, shit..._

"That's not the worst part…" I glared at him to just get on with it. "Kiri tracker ninja have been spotted." He told me as we landed on the roof next to the hospital. "The moment I heard, I rushed to find her before anyone else had the chance. I wasn't the only one that found her and Gai…" he informed me.

"Danzō…" I growled. Tenzō nodded, his mask over his face making it hard to read him.

"As I teleported us to the hospital, he showed up. He told me he'd get his hands on her. I've sent my team to guard your house around the clock. He won't get her on my watch."

* * *

  
The best news I got that day was about Gai's condition; mild hypothermia. Compared to everything else, it was great.

"Iruka…" I said softly as I entered Aurora's room. Tsunade had her under watch for sever chakra depletion. _Ma...guess she takes after me after all._ I couldn't count all the times I'd been here for the same reason.

"She just fell back to sleep. Did you just get back?" The chunin smiled tiredly at me as I sat next to him. I nodded, watching the heart monitor connected to my daughter. At least it was steady.

"What happened?" I knew from Tenzō, but I'm sure Iruka knew the full story.

"Gai pushed her over her limit. She said she tried to stop it, but she couldn't. " Aurora shifted, she seemed to be having a nightmare. "She was more upset about hurting Gai than anything."

* * *

  
After a few days, Aurora was allowed to go home, but she had changed. She wasn't my happy girl anymore. She was sullen and upset, never talking about much of anything. I was worried about her.

"Aurora?" I called her as I watched her play in her room with her elephant and bunny. Something seemed to be wrong with the elephant, as it was on its back and the bunny was trying to help. "Can you tell me what happened?" I asked, concerned at what she was doing.

"I froze Gai-kun…" She said sadly, light blue ice surrounded the bunny and elephant now. _So the color is what she feels…_

"Hm, I see." She looked up at me, her eyes seemed hollow and void of life. She had a kind heart, one that broke too easy. "Gai is fine, you didn't hurt him. However, we do need to work on these outbursts." I must have sounded harsh, but I couldn't leave her if she kept losing control. "Let's try something different. I want you to meditate when you feel upset. Try to calm yourself." It was worth a shot, she wasn't the type to punch trees to shreds when she got upset.

* * *

  
Iruka was better suited to teach her meditation and she was practicing it almost daily. It took her until winter to get things under control. Still, she had outbursts from being young, but at least it wasn't the middle of summer anymore. Ice and snow was easier to play off in winter.

However colored ice was not. She learned a little after I did that they showed her emotions. Her favorite color was pink, so she'd get frustrated just to get that color. She was too smart for her own good.

Other children noticed she could make these colors and would ask her to make a piece of ice in different colors. It didn't work that way, she tried, but each piece turned the same colors as she changed her feelings.

It also didn't take a lot of chakra to change ice that was already formed, so she was able to practice for much longer. She learned that the snow was easy for her to mold chakra into and would throw snowballs that way. Our elderly neighbor didn't appreciate getting hit while letting her cat out, so I put up a net along the fence. So, of course she moved to the other side of the yard and proceed to pelt passersby's with the stray snowballs.

"Oi! Watch it!" I heard someone yell while I was still setting up the net on the opposite side. I sighed, defeated.

"Maa, sorry!" I called, taking Aurora's hand. "Aurora, please don't play by the fence." How many times did I need to tell her this. The person that had yelled at us was thankfully Iruka. He came to the gate, snow still stuck in his hair and an annoyed look on his face.

"Little lady, you know better." He scolded as he came into the yard. "No snowballs thrown higher than the fence." I helped him brush the snow out of his hair.

"I didn't mean it…" She pouted. She just didn't understand that the wrong person could see and take her away.

"Maa, why don't we call it a day? It's getting cold." Aurora had shown that she didn't really get cold, so she didn't get that Iruka and I were freezing.

"Ok…" She sighed, wanting to play in the snow more.

* * *

  
With it being so cold, the threat of a kidnapping went down, least they wanted to freeze themselves. I also knew that kidnappers didn't want to risk the 'cargo' freezing to death either, so for now, she was safe. After years in the ANBU I had the sick pleasure of meeting a few of those kinds of men.

"Kakashi, please put something on." Iruka said as I stood by the window. He'd come downstairs when he didn't find me next to him. I looked down but didn't see what was wrong. I had my tank top on, the one with the mask attached, and my boxers. I was dressed, but I guess I wasn't dressed warm enough for Iruka. He was in long sleeve pajamas, and had a blanket over his shoulders.

"What? I have pants on." He snorted at me, scoffing at my stubbornness.

"You'll catch a cold." He threw the blanket over my shoulders, deciding for me that I was cold. "You know they would be stupid to try at this time of year." He at least agreed on that with me.

"I know." The eerie glow the snow cast in the dark was the only light in the house right now. I could easily hide my concern from him in this light. But, this was also Iruka, the man who I shared custody of Aurora with, and had been fucking for the last four months. He could read me like a book, even in the dark.

"Come back to bed." He said, wrapping his arms around my waist and laying his head on my shoulder. I knew he was trying to use his body to convince me, but I had a feeling deep in my gut that something was wrong. I ignored him, even when he nips at my earlobe.

"You know I want too…" I told him, taking hold of his hand as he tried to slip it under my waistband. "But something is wrong." ROOT hadn't made a move in far too long and the hunter nin just disappeared without a trace. Something was going on, and I indentended to find out what.

"Don't let yourself get that way again." Iruka held me tighter, knowing I was not going back to bed with him.

* * *

  
Just like I had thought...ROOT was the reason the hunter nin disappeared. Now the Mizukage was pissed that her men were dead. When asked why they were there, she informed us there was a rogue ninja thought to be in the area. It was supposed to be a covert capture and return, but it went south. Now the Hokage wanted to know why I had known about these hunter ninja being around and who told me. I wasn't about to sell Tenzō out.

"You know how rumors are. Some turn out to be true." The busty blonde was not having any of my games today and crushed the glass she had been holding.

"Damn it Kakashi! What are you hiding this time?" Her hazel eyes full of killing intent. Of all people, I thought she would have known.

"You know my daughter." This got her to calm down at the mention of Aurora. "I thought the Kiri ninja were after her. But, it seems I was wrong." Though I still wasn't convinced it had all been a cover up. "That's all." I left out the fact that I knew of her true parentage.

"So, you were the one that broke into the library…" The angry vein on her forehead making an appearance. "Why didn't you tell me?" So she made the connection too. "Damnit...now we have a mess to clean up." She finally sat back into her chair. "The Mizukage wants answers. What am I going to tell her…?" There was no choice now, the secret would be out about Aurora by the end of the day. It was out of my hands, and I was helpless to stop it.


	18. Chapter 18

Kakashi’s View:

As I had feared, the moment Aurora’s heritage was discovered by Kirigakure, they wanted answers. It had only taken a few days for it to reach them, slower than I thought. Mostly, they wanted her returned back there, but I had legal custody of her. Without my say, she would not be returned. This pissed off the wrong people, and the Hokage had me back in her office.

“I know you won’t give her up. I’m not asking that, no one is.” Tsunade tried to reason, but I wasn’t listening. “I’m asking you to travel there with her. They want to know if any of our theories are true. They might even have answers.”  
I had to agree with her there. The Yuki clan was still a mystery to us, but the Mizukage would have plenty of information on them. I didn’t agree on having to go there. They had all the information now, having demanding it immediately. They had read the reports on that night, the reports on what we found and obviously knew her bloodlines.

“If I don’t?” I challenged the blonde, getting a death glare. If looks could kill...I’d be dead five times over.  
“You are putting us in a box then. I can’t risk a war breaking out over this.” It was unspoken, but if I pushed too hard, she’d push back and be left with no choice but to take Aurora.

“Fine. I agree.” But I wasn’t happy about it. “On the condition, Aurora is not to leave my side.” I wouldn’t let anyone torment her.  
“I can’t promise that, but I can promise she will be safe. You and a small team will be sent to Kirigakure by the end of this week.” With that, she shooed me out the door, not waiting for me to make a counter offer.

* * *

  
Aurora was excited to be going on a mission with me. Little did she know, we were going there to prove our village had not stolen her from theirs. It pissed me off that they would think that, but it hadn’t been unheard of. Back in the day, it wasn’t uncommon for children to be stolen from their beds in the dead of night, just for their powers. Nowadays, it was rare, unless you were from a very prosegious clan.

“What’s Kiri like?” Aurora asked as I helped her pack. I was teaching her to pack properly, no toys this time. But, she insisted the bunny come with us. I gave in, not wanting a tantrum right now.

“Well, last I was there, hot.” It was very humid and the air was always heavy and damp. Though this time of year it was said to be very cold. She’d be happy with it, but it wasn’t my kind of weather. “I hear the people are...nice.” I lied. Honestly, my knowledge on them mostly came from my encounter with Zabuza and...Rin. I shook the thought away. _Not now..._

“Father, why are we going there?” I looked back at her from picking out an outfit from her closet. She needed a real shinobi gear.

“Well...do you remember when I told you where you came from?” She’d been pretty young, but she seemed to kind of remember it. “We’re going there to...so I can show you where you came from.” If I could hide the truth, even for a little while, I would. We were actually stopping a feud between the two villages.

“Are they gonna make me stay?” She looked up from looking through her backpack.

“You won’t be forced to stay.” But I’m sure they would try to convince her.

* * *

  
Iruka wasn't happy about us going there, in fact he was pretty ticked. He worried about what was going to happen and that we might not come back. He and I decided to discuss this over tea later that night to keep Aurora from over hearing our worries.

"What if they do make her stay? Would you stay with her there?" He asked. I hadn't thought of that option.

"Hmm...well, I suppose I would just leave her behind." I teased, just to get a rise out of him. "I won't let that happen. Don't worry too much, daddy. I'll bring her home safe." Calling him daddy made him turn red.

"D-don't call me that!" It was fine when Aurora did it, but not for me apparently. I fringed a pout.

"What?" I was having fun teasing him, it distracted me from thinking too hard on the upcoming mission. I won't get the chance to do this for at least two weeks, I needed to get my fill.

"You know what…" He still wouldn't say it, so I played innocent to pry it out of him. "Don't you start calling me daddy." _Oh this was going to be fun…_

"Why ever not?" I leaned against the arm of the couch, watching him squirm in embarrassment. I watched with a smirk as he blushed even harder. Aurora had gone to bed hours ago, so we were safe from her questions of why I shouldn't call Iruka daddy. "Does it turn you on, sensei?" That got a visible reaching out of him, I watched the small shiver run up his spine.

"Kakashi…" he warned, turning away from me and careful not to spill the hot tea on himself. I knew he was trying to hide the fact he was hard, making his pants tent.

"And you call me a perv." I took the cup out of his hands before he hurt himself, lowering my mask and kissing just under his ear, pulling his shirt collar down. "Still don't want me to call you daddy?" That got the reaction I had hoped for and he pulled me into a deep, but messy, kiss. "Which one turns you on more?" I grinned wolfishly at him, palming the front of his pants.

"Is it bad that it's both?" That went straight to my groin. He was going to regret admitting that...

* * *

  
We had made it back up to the bedroom at least before he finally relented and accepted, I was going to call him whatever I wanted to.

"If that's what you're going to call me, then that would make you my bitch." The sadistic grin he gave me did all kinds of wrong things to me. Guess you’ve been holding out on me...

"I-I mean..." I tried, but he silenced me.

"Hush..." He put a finger to my lips, sitting up from under me and pushing me back. I gulped, never seeing this side of him before. I watched as the charade broke, his face turning red as he looked down at the sheets. "I...have no idea..."

"You were fine...keep going." I tried to convey how much that had turned me on, thankfully he caught on. He took a breath, calming himself before taking over again. He crashed our lips together, raking his hand through my hair. Now I see why he liked his hair pulled, it was weird that it felt this good. I pushed my hips up, grinning our erections together to remind him of our problems. He stopped kissing me and held my hips down to stop me, taking full control.

"Not until I say..." I let him pin my hands above my head, knowing if I wanted to, I could break free and change it all again. He squeezed my wrists, warning me not to move while he looked for something to tie them together. The closest thing to us was my headband, so he used that.

"Maa...daddy doesn't want me to move?" He smirked, pressing his knee into my groin, making me force back a groan.

"No, I don't. If you try you'll be punished." I kind of wanted to know what the punishment was though...but decided to test that later. Right now, I wanted to know what he was going to do. He moved to pull off my pants, silently asking me to lift my hips, which I gladly did. In one swift move, he pulled them off, only pausing for a second when he saw I wasn't wearing anything underneath.

"Laundry day..." I shrugged, making him roll his eyes. He got straight to it, licking up the vein in the underside of my cock. "Fuck..." I cried out, balling my hands into fists. I was surprised when he smacked my left hip after he pulled away.

"Language..." _Oh that was the punishment?_ I know he could do better. After he warned me, he continued, making me bite the inside of my cheek to stop from cursing again. I'd wait a little bit before making him spank me again. He started swirling his tongue over the head of my cock, which make my hips unconsciously jerk up. He pulled way, nearly choking from that.

"S-sorry..." I tried, but he flipped me over, literally putting me over his knee. A hard slap on my ass told me he did not appreciate it. I gasped the first slap, the shock of it nearly making me lose it right there.

"I tried to warn you..." his voice was playful, not angry at me at all. I was near tears by the fifth slap, the pleasure of it almost too much. He took mercy, placing me back on the mattress, but this time I was face down. I bit my lip, nervous about what was next. This was the first time I'd been the one in this position, I just hadn't told Iruka this yet. I cried out, thankful that the seal had activated when the door shut, when Iruka licked at my entrance. _Ah...that's what it felt like._ It was weird, but pleasant and felt good. It's when he pressed his tongue in that I started to squirm. It wasn't unpleasant, but fuck it felt really weird.

"Kakashi...you ok?" He stopped, checking on me.

"Y-yeah...please...daddy..." That earned another hard slap, making me moan.

"Kami, you're the worst..." His voice had deepened with lust, it was doing things to him too. He reached over to my dresser drawer to get the lube I kept there. He poured it across my entrance, making sure I was ready before he pressed a finger inside. "Shit...you're really tight." I knew he was imagining being inside.

"Y-you're the first..." but that wasn't to say I hadn't played. The thought of him being the first turned Iruka on, but he did take care to not hurt me. He made sure from there on to slow down a bit and let me adjust to each finger. By the third, I wanted him to get on with it. I was practically fucking myself on his fingers by then; I think he really was just enjoying seeing me in this state. I couldn’t blame him, watching him do it to mine was one of the best memories I had recorded. If I looked anywhere near that, I was surprised he didn’t cum right there.

“D-do it already!” I groaned, rolling my hips to emphasize what I wanted him to do.

“You’re so impatient…” he said, licking the shell of my ear as his left hand slowly dragged up my chest. He played with my nipple, distracting me as he lined himself up and pushed the head of his cock inside. I felt myself tense up at the intrusion, the pain from it wasn’t what I thought it was going to be. Iruka whispered loving words in my ear to help me relax, one of his hands wandered back to my hip while the other trailed lightly over the pulse point on my neck. His touch sending fire back through my body, allowing him to push further inside of me as I relaxed. He held still, letting me adjust to him before finally I couldn’t stand it.

“C-come on daddy...g-give it to me…” He buried his face into my neck, moaning loudly as he rolled his hips. “F-fuck, ‘Ruka!” I moaned, loving the feeling of him buried so deep. I was glad I let him do this, the feeling was amazing.

I decided, I'd let him be the dominant one again if that was the reaction I got from calling him daddy. Who knew he had a kink. Or, perhaps, we shared that kink. After taking a moment to just feel him, I moved my hips back, meeting each thrust with one of my own. One of the thrusts finally hit that special bundle of nerves he had been searching for. I swear I could see stars when he first hit it, not knowing I had made any kind of noise.

* * *

  
Iruka’s View:

I knew I found Kakashi’s prostate by the sudden cry he gave. I wish I hadn’t chosen to take him from behind for his first time, I really wanted to see his face. I couldn’t really change it right now, but I could sit up and pull him into my lap. The sudden movement shocked him, making him moan again as I sat him back into my lap.

“Kami, Kashi…” He was still so damn tight, and gods it felt so good. I apparently wasn’t moving fast enough for him as he started riding me. I took a hold of his hips to slow him down before he came without me assisting. He whined, pressing his back into my chest to lay his head on my shoulder. This gave me the view of his face I wanted, seeing him in the throws of our love making made me shiver. I licked up his neck, loving the noises he was making.

He finally gave in and let me keep the pace, but he was trying to get me to move faster by rolling his hips every other thrust. I wasn’t going to let him win this time, he’s the one that wanted to call me daddy, so he was going to get it. I nipped at his neck, signaling that I wanted him back down, but he wanted to stay like this.

“Y-you’re going to get punished again…” I warned, but he seemed to like that idea from the way he whined at it. I was figuring out he was really into riding me, this was not what I wanted right now though. Deciding the best way to do it was to give in a little, making his legs spread a little more. This took him off balance and let me push him face down again, pushing straight into his prostate. The howl he let out, along with the way he squeezed around me, nearly threw me over the edge. I sat up, taking a hold of his hips again, and thrust in harder. I’d never heard Kakashi make these noises before, the gasps and moans taking a slightly higher pitch than when he was fucking me. I really wanted to do this more, if he’d allow me to.

“D-daddy...I-I can’t…” _Kami this is wrong_...I thought as he started moaning like he was a virgin.

“Me too…” My mind wasn’t working well enough to chide him right now. I reached around, fisting his cock in my hand and timing my movements with our thrusts. It took only two more thrusts before I felt him tighten around me, spilling his seed into my hand. I came not long after, filling him with my own.

After calming down a little, I laid beside him, letting him roll into my side to lay his head on my chest. I know we should clean up, but my body felt like jelly right now.

“Think we found a new kink.” Kakashi broke the silence with his jokes.

“Never call me that again…” I was only kind of joking, but he was to never do it in front of Aurora again.

* * *

  
Kakashi's View:

I awoke to Iruka’s arms around my waist, his face was tucked into the back of my neck. I was pleasantly sore all across my backside. I’d never felt so vulnerable and was grateful Iruka didn’t tease me, taking care to make sure he didn’t hurt me. I asked myself how I’d gotten so lucky over and over.

I was pulled from the memory of the previous night when my lover stirred.

“Mm...Kakashi? It’s still so early…” He was right, the sun had yet to peak over the horizon. “You ok?” He sat up a little on his elbow, worry making its way into his features. I think he thought he had hurt me. The ache was nothing, it just reminded me of him.

“I’m fine, great actually.” I leaned up and kissed the scar on his cheek. I couldn’t explain why I was awake, I just was. “You were great…” That got him to stop worrying and blush. I was going to miss him when we left tomorrow. I wanted to make sure he wouldn’t forget me and promised myself I’d make today count.

* * *

  
Iruka sadly didn’t have the day off, so he was unable to come shopping with us like I had hoped. He knew better than I did what was ok for little girls to wear. Sure, I wasn’t about to get her some kind of strange bikini that supposedly passed as armor, I just wasn’t sure what girls wore underneath. Was Aurora to young to wear a tiny training bra? Was this a bra, or was it armor? It was a mystery…and they really didn’t make a lot of armor for kids her size. Most were made for six year old's that were far too big on her.

“What’s that?” Aurora asked, coming out of the dressing room to find me mulling over the small bra/armor thing. She had on a pale yellow, long sleeve, Chinese style top and long lavender pants. She also chose dark turquoise shinobi style shoes. It looked perfect on her, but make her look too grown up for my liking. I needed to get over that.

“Er...nothing. Do you like that?” I quickly put the bra back, the shopkeeper giving me a disgusted look. I wanted to explain it wasn’t like that, but I just gave her an eye smile and turned around.

“I like this outfit!” She beamed. I told her to change out of it so we could get it, while I found suitable under armor. I settled on a thin mesh shirt meant for boys. The girls one didn’t cover much more than just the chest. I thought it odd, even the ninja world could be sexist.

While I checked out, I heard Aurora running up behind me. “Look it!” She called making me turn around. She had on a tank top shirt with a mask attached, just like mine but smaller. I couldn’t say no and got that for her too, especially when she declared, she looked just like me. Iruka could scold me later.

* * *

  
Once home, Aurora immediately wanted to try everything on again. So, I told her the mesh should go on first before letting her go get dressed. She came bounding back down stairs, landing with a thump on the bottom step.

“Tada!” She must have been beaming, but the mask she wore hide it. She looked so cute in her new ninja gear. _So proud..._ I had to turn to hide the fact that I was on the verge of tears. I couldn’t stop myself when she ran closer and I scooped her up in a tight hug, causing her to try to get away.

“Father, you-you’re crushing me.” she complained, not understanding why I was being so affectionate.

“You’re the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.” I sucked it up and let myself cry similarly to how Gai did.

Iruka came home just then, seeing us crumpled up on the floor. He was about to question it was going on when he saw Aurora in her new outfit and mask. I saw him get all teary eyed too.

“Daddy...help! Father’s crushing me!” Aurora got an arm free and reached up to him, but he didn’t help. Instead he joined me in hugging her close. Now she was really being squished. “No! Not you too!” But her cries fell on deaf ears, both of us overwhelmed with the fact she looked far too grown up.

* * *

  
After deciding to say, screw it, we all took a shower and bath together. We’d learned the hard way that the water heater only allowed for two showers, so why not take one together. Aurora was happy to have play time in the bath with both of us, showing us she could make water bubbles. Up until she nearly froze the bath water, everything was going fine. Both Iruka and I jumped out when we felt the icy chill, neither one of us really appreciating it when it hit certain places. She asked why we ran so fast, then proceeded to ask the dreaded questions of why we both had penis’. Iruka nearly had an aneurysm right then.

“Maa, let’s just say yes and leave it at that, eh?” I told her, making the questions stop.

* * *

  
After that, Iruka tried to show me how easy it was to braid Aurora’s hair, but every time I tried she told me I was pulling to hard.

“Ow, that hurts…” She said pouted as I was halfway done with the French braid on her right side. Iruka’s braid on her left side was perfect, tied so the ends could be placed in small buns in the morning and let down again the next night. Mine looked just like his, but was apparently “too tight.” We would be on a ship for at least two days and I didn’t want to deal with her crazy hair in the morning. This was Iruka’s solution.

“Sorry, caterpillar.” I apologized, but I was pretty sure I wasn’t really hurting her. Sometimes she just wanted to be trouble for me. _Why didn’t she do this with Iruka?_ I still hadn’t learned his trick. “There, done.” She rubbed her head a little, relieving some of the tension from the braids.

“Was that so bad?” Iruka teased her, making her pout again. “Hopefully that should keep until you guys make it to Kirigakure…” he was still worried about us going. Konoha and Kiri were not on the best of terms at this time. They were trying to make amends, change themselves and their image away from the Bloody Mist Village, but there was still tension. I understood his fear, there was a very high chance this was all a trap, but I had to have some hope that I was wrong.

“How come you’re not going, dad?” She turned to Iruka. He had made her stop calling her daddy, which I found funny.

“I have the end of the semester tests still. I can’t leave just yet.” He gave her a soft smile. She was only mildly upset by that answer, deciding it wasn’t worth arguing.

* * *

“Well, the bath wasn’t a complete deastor.” Iruka joked. I sent Aurora to go get in bed so we could tuck her in.

“Maa...I just want her to stop asking about sex.” I lamented, getting a playful shove from Iruka. He understood my pain now at least.

“All kids want to know that and where babies come from. I blame you.” He said as he passed me to go to her room.

“Me?” I followed him, making sure to keep my voice down. “What did I do?” I really hadn’t provoked any of it.

“You’re constantly reading porn in front of her…” He smirked, saying it in a whisper so Aurora didn’t hear. He had a point...but I refused to let her get a hold of them or read them to her. I kept them well hidden in my room.

“Hmm...I doubt she knows this.” I watched him go in and get Aurora to finally lay down. I watched them from the doorway, taking in the cute scene. He still had his hair down, which I wished he would do more. He looked damn sexy like this. Maybe I didn’t want him to do it in public though, someone might try to steal him away. Aurora looked up to me, waiting for me to kiss her goodnight. I had just stepped forward when the power went out. The snow outside must have been too heavy for the power lines again. Aurora refused to sleep in her room that night.

* * *

  
Aurora didn’t like the dark and always slept with me when there was a power outage. This was the first time Iruka had been over during one, so he got to see first hand how much they scared her. I was only after we assured her nothing was going to come from the dark did she finally fall asleep. The entire time, she had her head on my chest, blanket pulled over her head. Now I was able to pull it down, stroking her hair in a calming manner.

“Why does this scare her still?” Iruka whispered, still rubbing his hand over her back through the blanket. Most kids slept through power outages fine, Aurora never did.

“It could stem from the night her parents died.” I wondered aloud, the Chunin settled himself behind her, a hand on her shoulder. “It was a dark night…” He knew the story.

“Could be…” Iruka was being lulled to sleep by the sound of Aurora’s soft breathing. I knew it wasn’t possible, but I worried she remembered their deaths. No matter if they had been missing nin or not, not one should bare witness to the brutality that was Kiri-hunter nin. I ran my hand over his fingers, lacing them together and setting our hands on Aurora’s waist. Both of them cuddled closer to me, our red headed girl squished comfortably between us. This...is this what it means to be a family?

* * *

We had to leave early in the morning, much to Aurora’s dismay. She wasn’t usually an early morning person, and that didn’t change today. I suspected I might have to carry her for a little while, until she woke up more. Iruka made sure she went to get ready while I finished packing. Her little purple backpack had everything she’d need including a warmer coat if her winter shinobi cloak didn’t cut it. It might not be necessary for her, but better safe than sorry. She chose to carry her bunny rather than it stay in the backpack.

“Maa, there you are.” She finally came down, the collar on white winter cloak she had on came up to her nose. The only part of her you could see were the soles of her shinobi shoes and the top of her head, well, until Iruka pulled her hood up as he made her put gloves on. He wasn’t going to let her leave without them. She looked like a fuzzy snowman.

“Well, I’d walk you to the gate, but…” Iruka sighed. “I have to go in early to set up the testing rooms. Good luck you two.” He pressed his nose to Aurora’s, making her giggle as the fluffy from the coat tickled her cheeks. He stood up and went to kiss my cheek. He wasn’t leaving me with just that. I quickly pulled my mask down, moving slightly to the left and caught him in a kiss. He didn’t pull away, wanting this as much as I did.

I heard Aurora giggling at us, but I grabbed Iruka’s butt and made her say “gross.”

“Ok...go.” Iruka scolded me, pulling away from my reach.

* * *

  
The team that Tsunade was sending us with was Team Gai. Lee was apparently well enough to do missions again. Aurora was still apologetic about what happened with Gai, but Gai assured her he was fine. He even showed her by standing on one hand.

The team was debriefed at the gates of what the mission all entailed, the secret of her powers long revealed to them. I noticed TenTen had sparkles in her eyes at seeing Aurora. _Maa...already has another fan._

“Yosh, let’s get moving then! We’ll be at the docks by sundown!”

“As much as I appreciate your enthusiasm, it will still take about a day and a half.” Maybe longer if the weather didn’t hold. It wasn’t snowing now, but it would soon. That, and three year olds did not travel well…

After an hour of walking, Aurora was tired, but we had to keep going.

“I accept this challenge!” Lee shouted, turning his back pack around to carry it on his chest. “I will carry her all the way to the docks!” He knelt down for Aurora to get on his back. He really was just like a smaller Gai.

Aurora looked up at me, but decided it was fine after TenTen said she’d be safe. She seemed to like her and now I understood why she liked the chinese style top. Maybe she’d start looking up to TenTen now instead of Sasuke.

* * *

  
I had been right about it taking longer, a snow storm held us back a day, but after it passed, we went double time to make up for it. We still had to be at the docks within three days or risk missing the boat. Aurora didn’t mind Lee carrying her anymore, thinking it was all a fun game.

Once we finally got there, I learned quickly how cold it was in the dead of winter by the sea. Everyone but Aurora needed their extra warm gear as we boarded the ship, her bloodline proving very useful for cold weather.

* * *

  
Not long after we set sail, Gai became violently sea sick and had to be set below deck. Lee stayed with him, but it was revealed later by Neji that he had become ill as well. That left him, TenTen and me in charge of keeping the boat safe. TenTen was enthralled by Aurora, taking care of her like a big sister and practically never leaving her side. She nearly squeezed her to death when Aurora showed her the outfit she was wearing, thinking it was too cute that their shirts sort of matched. I was able to trust that she’d be safe with the exuberant weapons master, leaving them to look after our sea sick friends.

This allowed me to explore the ship, checking it over to make sure it was safe. Neji had agreed to help me, taking charge of looking around the upper decks. So far, everything seemed clear. No sign of any Kiri-ninja, other than the few guards that were supposed to be there. I wouldn’t let the illusion of being safe get to me, I had to keep my guard up.

I had no problem getting around until I hit the cargo area. The ninja there did not allow me inside, making me wonder what they were hiding. I let it go, not wanting to start a fight over something so small.

Nothing seemed off at all, which made me even more unsettled. To me, it felt like the calm before the storm. I just hoped it was me being paranoid.

* * *

  
Back in our room, I found TenTen had let her hair down and was allowing Aurora to braid it. I hoped the brunette had a good brush on her, it was mostly in knots. Though she really didn’t seem to care, she had the same starry eyed look from before. She was truly under the spell of Aurora’s cuteness, I couldn’t blame her.

“Nothing so far.” Neji declared as he came in. “The ship seems secure.” If anyone could detect anything odd, he would have been to one to find it.

* * *

  
Seeing as this was a small ship, the six of us had to share one room. It was decided that Gai and Lee would share a lower bunk bed for access to the bucket near them. TenTen and I were surprised when Aurora asked if she could sleep with her tonight instead of me. Of course she said yes, and the girls stayed in the bed above mine. Neji had the last bed above the two seasick men. I wasn’t going to sleep, seeing as new places always made me uncomfortable. So, I choose to lay there, staring up and the underside of the bed above me. I listened to everyone's soft breathing as they slept, keeping track of who was really awake and who wasn’t. Of course, Neji was the only one still awake.

I felt movement in the room, and soon he was sitting on the floor near my bunk.

“It worries me no one has tried anything.” He said softly, his voice making TenTen mutter something in her sleep. It sounded like she told him to stop worrying.

“Me too. We might as we get closer though, stay vigilant.” I couldn’t see him, but I’m sure he nodded his head. “I’ll keep watch, so get some rest.” I assured him. He went back to his bed, but he didn’t sleep either. _I’m glad I’m not the only one that thinks it’s odd._


	19. Chapter 19

Kakashi's View:

Besides Gai and Lee getting seasick, the boat ride was uneventful. The hardest part had been keeping Aurora entertained and from playing hide and seek. She'd disappeared twice, one of those times Neji had to use his Byakugan. She was a little too good, her Hōzuki blood proving to be more of a pain than I thought.

Once on shore, we made sure to get our green clad men steady on their feet before we moved. Both of them praised the ground, which caught unwanted attention from some of the natives, but no one approached.

The guards that had been on the ship escorted us through the city to make sure we didn't get lost.

Kirigakure hadn't changed much since my last visit, other than there was snow on the ground. There we a few new buildings and it looked like the old ones we being fixed up, but most were still in near ruin. This area had been plagued by war and violence for so long, it was a wonder anything was left standing.

Aurora had her hood down and was looking at all of the buildings. Konoha didn't have anything quite like this, seeing as we never really had an internal war within our walls. The Uchiha clan massacre was the closest we had to it. As tragic as that had been, it didn't compare to the wrongful slaughter that happened for years here.

"Why are the buildings broken?" She asked, taking my hand to keep closer.

"There was a war here." There had actually been may internal wars here. "This village suffered a lot of civil disputes. The buildings were broken in the process." I explained it to her so she could understand.

The Mizukage's office was within sight, it was the widest building in the village and the only one not in ruin.

* * *

  
The watch of the two Kiri ANBU near the Mizukage had me uneasy. Both of them were watching Aurora, ignoring the two jonin and three genin with her. _This is bad_...The gut feeling of things about to head south was rising up again.

"Is that anyone to greet guests?" The woman at the desk broke the tension in the air. Her tone was accusing them of being rude. "Apologies, we're still getting used to the idea of visitors." She said as she stood, taking the Mizukage hat off of her head, revealing her face.

"Thank you for taking the time to see us, Lady Mizukage!" Gai put his hands on his waist, but he wasn't the one Mei had her eyes on. She was looking directly at me.

"Well, if I had known they were going to send the villages most eligible men, I might have prepared better." _Maa...I see…_

"My Lady, I doubt that's what they are here for." Ao, her assistant commented, making an angry look cross her face.  
"We came here for answers." I dispelled her rage, the Mizukage looked back to me then to the form tugging at my cloak. Aurora must have felt overwhelmed by the mix of feelings and chakras in the air, as a small spot of frost had appeared where she was touching the cloak. Her bunny also had a growing spot of frost across its belly. _That's why they were staring..._

"Right." Mei knelt down in front of us, catching Aurora's questioning gaze. "I'm sure you have more questions than us grown ups, huh?" The auburn haired woman smiled warmly at her. I had to look away from Mei, the angle she was at, I could see straight down her shirt. I had a feeling it was intentional.

* * *

  
After shooing the ANBU away and posting Gai's team outside the door, she had Aurora and I sit in front of her desk.

"I want to thank you for coming, Kakashi-san." Lady Mei said as she sat on the edge of the desk, closest to me. "I know what you must be thinking, why bother coming here if we've seen the reports about everything. But I had to be sure she wasn't just a myth." Aurora stopped fidgeting with the bunny while she sat on my lap, listening intently to Mei.

"If you mean her Hōzuki bloodline, I'm aware." It shocked her to know that I knew about it already. "I...read some files." Not fully admitting I broke into our villages own classified record room. "She's also shown her Yuki bloodline. That's the one she can't control." Mei's green eyes flashed with concern.

"I wasn't aware she was showing signs. She must be cautious here, there's still some that hold on to Kiri's old ways." Aurora squirmed under her gaze, slipping slowly off of my lap. I let her, knowing she wouldn't leave my side. "Could you show me?" The Mizukage smiled softly, directing the question at her and earning a shy smile from Aurora.

"Ok." She had made the room cold before she even finished saying it, the frost creeping from under her feet as she formed tiny ice crystals around her. It was a new thing she had learned while on the boat, much to my dismay. She had no control over them yet, so they spun in lazy, wide circles around her. Lady Mei just looked stunned.

"Their bloodline is so rare...even I haven't seen it up close." She seemed frozen in place. Aurora looked at me, worried that she did something wrong. The ice turned an odd yellow-green, a color I hadn't seen before. "Colored ice? Hm, or is it more a reflection of her chakra?" she wondered out loud, pulled from her stunned wonderment.

"It seems to reflect her emotions." I confirmed, hoping she'd know something more.

"Hm...I wonder." She moved towards Aurora, who unknowingly made the ice into sharp needles. This spooked even her, making them fly around the room.

Thankfully, Lady Mei was quick and deflected any aimed at her.

"Oops…" Aurora said shyly, not meaning for that to happen.

"Heh...I see. I will not harm you, little one. But I do think I know what's causing the colors." She knelt to her height again. "The water you're using isn't just pulled from the air, but a part of yourself. The Hōzuki clan can turn to water, but the Yuki clan jutsus pull water from the air around or the person's body. The water pulled from your body reacts more to your emotions, the ice refracting a color you associate with that feeling." Aurora and I hadn't been aware that she was pulling water from her own body.

"What does that mean?" Aurora tilted her head, looking like a puppy just then.

"For now, nothing. One day though, you might be able to make each color do something different." Lady Mei gently smoothed her hand over her braided hair in an almost motherly way. "For now, try to focus on pulling only water from around you." It was left unsaid that pulling from herself could be extremely dangerous. If she pulled too much, she'd dehydrate herself to the point she'd get severely ill, or worse, die.

* * *

  
After meeting Aurora, she asked to speak with me alone. I dearly hoped Lady Mei wouldn't flirt anymore, but she did and it wasn't like I could yell at her to stop it.

"So, how does a man like you end up raising a baby all alone?" She was perched on the edge of the desk again, leaning over with her arm on her knee. She held her head up with her hand, and I knew she knew I had a perfect view of her cleavage. It wasn't to say I didn't enjoy it, I just didn't have an interest anymore. I had Iruka, he was all I needed.

"Well...I wasn't completely alone. It just so happened, I was at the right place at the right time." Or the wrong time, depending on how you looked at it. I considered it dumb luck at the time. "A rouge ninja had gotten from our grasp. I found her while after them." A soft smiled crossed her lips.

"No one else has raised her though?" She was asking if she'd been fostered first. I shook my head, which seemed to please her for some reason. "How responsible…" She was getting a strange pleasure from hearing I was a good father.

"Maa...Iruka was there to help so…" Her eagerness to hear more seemed to go down after that. "He and I kind of raised her together." She finally got the hint, and sat up a little straighter.

"How old was she when this started." She looked towards a puddle on the floor from Aurora's ice. She was now trying very hard to hide the fact it upset her to hear I was with someone.

"Hmm...after her third birthday. Is that early?" Judging by her face, it wasn't.

"Actually, it usually starts at age two. Maybe she's just a late bloomer." Mei waved it off as nothing more than that. "Did you find anything else with her parents?" I wasn't sure what she was alluding to.

"The man was nothing more than a torso when we found him. The woman had her throat cut from ear to ear. As far as I know, they were murdered and not looted." I hadn't read about items found on them, I was focused on other things at the time.

"I see." Was all she said.

"Do you know who they were?" This made Lady Mei go stock still.

"Yes…" She hesitated, knowing I knew about her possible father. "Mangetsu Hōzuki and Hanako. It wasn't known to us that she had been a Yuki until after…" She paused, referring to Aurora. "I'm unsure of all the details, but from fractured stories and rumors, we were able to pull together a basic timeline. They met after he had become one of the Seven Swordsmen. Something went horribly wrong and the war over kekkei genkai broke out. They must have fled to birth their child in secret. This resulted in them being tracked down and hunted. Obviously it had been successful, but their child survived."

I took it all in, reeling at the fact a cold blooded killer like him had found love, begot a child and then died protecting her. It was tragic yes, but his death hadn't been unwarranted. It brought my thoughts back to Zabuza, only at death did he realize the love he had missed out on. It seemed even killers had hearts too.

"So there's no link on to where Hanako came from?" I asked after a moment.

"The Yuki clan was scattered throughout the land, but very few survived. I can think of maybe two I have ever heard of." She had settled back again. "Now do you see why I called you here? I couldn't really send a bird about this, someone else might have gotten it."

True...if word got out of her parentage, she'd be hunted for a different reason. That wasn't going to stop people from trying to use her for her powers though. They would either kill her for the sins of her father's crimes, or use her for their own gain. I'm glad she wasn't found here…

* * *

  
The meeting had taken over an hour, and by then Lady Mizukage had answered everything she could. There were still some unknowns, but none of those questions could be answered. The ones who knew them were long dead.

Gai's team was already in the dining area when I came out of her office, happily enjoying some rest and warm food. Gai and Lee seemed to be competing about who could eat the most pork buns and Aurora was learning what crab legs were. TenTen was helping her open the shells and watched as delight lit up her face when she tried it. I'd never hear the end of it and knew she had a new favorite food.

"Maa, made yourselves at home?" I gave them an eye smile as I joined them. Aurora showed me a crab claw, demonstrating how it opened and closed for me. I cracked it, showing her the meat inside, but she was upset that I had broken the claw. I had clearly misread her intentions.

* * *

  
There were three bed rooms set up for us, which was rather odd considering the women on the team usually got a separate room. Privacy reasons and all that. Thankfully they each had two beds. Gai decided he and I would stay together in the far left room, the girls got the room in the middle and Lee and Neji would share the last room. Neji wasn't pleased to share a room with his very loud teammate, but it had been split up fairly. It was either that or Neji and I shared a room, and that held less appeal to him.

I was not surprised, however, when Aurora changed her mind last second and wanted to stay with me. TenTen was only slightly hurt, but understood that this was a new place and was very scary for her.

That's how I ended up with her in my bed, but it didn't explain why Gai had chosen to stay in the same bed with us. I was annoyed, but at least both of them were sound asleep. I just couldn't escape from their holds. Aurora was on my right, curled up against my side with my arm under her head. Gai had ahold of my left arm, spooning it in his sleep. _Why did I get stuck with him again?_ I wondered if this was what Neji was putting up with too, and why we hadn't let the two idiots share a room.

* * *

  
I woke up to Gai letting Aurora jump on the other bed. She knew better, but then again if a grown up had said it was ok…

"Aurora…" I warned, which made her flop down on her butt immediately. She hadn't known I was awake.

"Gai said I could." She shifted the blame, but knew she was still in trouble.

"If Gai said to jump off a cliff, would you?" She shook her head, pouting a little. "Then don't do it if you know better." She threw herself face down onto the now messy bed. I had been unused until Gai let her do that.

"Kakashi, my rival, she's a child! Let her have a little fun." Gai said, coming out of the adjoining bathroom. "She won't hurt anything." Except it was undermining my teaching of manners.

"I'd appreciate if you stayed out of it." I snapped, knowing he'd drop it now. Or at least he should have…

"Ah, come now, what harm is there in letting a child have a little fun?" I could think of a thousand ways jumping on the bed could hurt her, but I wasn't interested in arguing anymore.

"Go get ready for the day." My tone was a little harsher than I meant to, but Aurora quietly obeyed. Today was going to be a test against my patience.

* * *

  
As Lady Mei had told us, we were permitted into the Kirigakure library for research reasons. She hoped we could find more information on some old scroll there. So far, most of the Yuki scrolls had missing information, torn from them or the paper was too fragile and had crumbled away. Most you had to handle with special gloves. Aurora was told to keep away from those and let us read them to her.

Sadly, it was nothing new. The vital pieces were just gone, Kiri had been adamant about erasing the clans and their history. Even just keeping this much around had to have been difficult.

"Even this book doesn't hold anything…" TenTen sighed in frustration as she closed the giant leather book. It held the history of the ancient clans of the area, but nothing more than descriptions of each of their abilities. It also held names, but it was left to ruin when the clan slaughtering started. No new information had been written in it in years.

"I'm starting to think they know as much as we do." I was carefully rolling a scroll back together, this one at least had information on where she should be at by age seven. She should be able to perform the technique of Demonic Ice Mirrors by then, but it also described the brutal training the children of the past went through to achieve this. I wasn't going to make her train until she coughed up blood. No one in their right mind would.

"So this trip was pointless?" Neji asked, rereading a torn scroll, trying to fill in the missing pieces with another book nearby.

"Not at all." I assured him. I had actually learned much more about where she came from and the reasoning behind how she got to Konoha.

A tragic love story and a harsh lesson on how the past can catch up to you. I was sure if Mangetsu had chosen a different path, he and Hanako would be raising Aurora together. How different would she be if she had them? Would she be the kind hearted little girl she is now? I wasn't even sure of the name her parents had given to her. Though Hōzuki tradition would have her name ending in Tsu. Or maybe starting with Tsu, as it was mostly boy names that ended with it.

"Kakashi, does this help?" Gai thrust a small, purple book in my face, the movement making me almost tear the scroll I was holding. The book was open on a page about Hōzuki clan techniques. The book was old looking, but the information was nothing new. I almost turned him away when I saw threw a tear, on the next page was a family tree.

I grabbed the book, turning the page to get a better look. The writing was newer towards the bottom and had the last two Hozuki brothers listed. Written in different handwriting was Hanako's name and a line connecting her name to Mangetsu's. Underneath their names was written Tsukiko.

My heart dropped, this had been on one of her parents. Did the Mizukage know of this book? What this what she meant on if I found anything? Now I knew her given name I guess…

"This is…" I started, Gai looking over my shoulder and realized what was on the page.

"A beautiful name." He said softly, so the others wouldn't hear. "You think this Hanako-chan wrote this?" The penmanship looked like a woman may have wrote it, but some men had similar writing.

"No idea." I carefully closed the book, mindful of the binding. It had water damage and looked like at one point was completely submerged. That was the reason it looked older than it was.

TenTen later found a bigger book that held more of the family tree than the small one in the book Gai found. It did not have Hanako or...Tsukiko's name. I had a hard time thinking of Aurora by that name. It didn't hold anything more than the names of different clans men, so it wasn't as useful as first thought. I did notice each clans men who had died had a line through their name.

* * *

  
The night I had been able to get out of the hold of Gai and Aurora to explore the book. I hadn't exactly asked to take it, so it was better they didn't know I had it. I snuck out to the balcony to read in the moonlight. It was cold, but this information proved to be worth it.

I found the margins full of notes on different ways this member had discovered each technique. Based on this, I concluded it had been Mangetsu's, but Hanako had written in the family tree extension. It differed from the writing in the margins. This book also appeared to have belonged to their father before Mangetsu got a hold of it. It was also written all by hand, so it had to have been a direct relatives. This book is just a condensed, pocket sized version of the bigger ones in the library, with way more information packed into it as it held more personal information.

Second to last page was smeared, but it was a letter. It was hard to read, but if I wasn't mistaken it was directed to Tsukiko. I uncovered my Sharingan, seeing if I could use it to piece together any gaps. All I could decipher was a little less than half of it.

  
I know we may never meet, but know that we love you…  
I hope your life….and you are well loved and cared for  
Your father and I wished to be there, but we knew it wasn't meant to be...  
Forgive me for leaving you here.  
We love you, Tsukiko.  
-mom and dad

It wasn't a letter to her...It was to an adoption center, apologizing to her about having to do it.

Of course it was...they knew they'd be hunted down and killed, so their plan was to take her far away from Kirigakure and put her up for adoption. The truth wasn't what I expected, but it showed how much they were willing to do to keep her alive. They'd given up everything to do so. I tucked the note into my pants pocket, keeping it for Aurora. It was meant for her and no one else. I reread the book with my eye uncovered, memorizing every word for later use. I still had to put this book back before someone noticed.

* * *

  
It took all night, but I had returned the book with only one person noticing. The librarian he been rather pissed, but I lied and told him I thought it was open all night. He scolded me, telling me I was lucky I was a guest of the Mizukage. I guessed I'd have been arrested otherwise.

I'd even managed to slip pass Neji, who was up after feeling me leave the room. I explained I was bored and needed some air and he left it at that.  
I did not make it back to the bed in time to be there when Aurora awoke. She walked out of the bathroom as I came rolling back into the room, ducking from the guard on the other rooftop.

"Father?" She sounded sleepy still. "What're you doing?" It must have been odd for her to see me just coming in when she thought I had been in the other bed.  
"Er...I was out for a walk." The look she gave me told me she was onto my lies. She was used to some of them by now though. "Just keep it secret, ok?" She knew that a promise of sweets would come if she listened.

* * *

  
Since we were here to look for answers about her family, Aurora decided to ask everyone about theirs. TenTen and Lee's stories we similar, both were orphaned at a young age and came to find their own ways. Neji explained his family was complicated and left it at that. I understood that it was hard for him to talk about it all still.

Gai answered her as passionately as ever, telling her all about his father. Even going so far as to tell him of his sacrifice and crying all the way through. I really wished he hadn't, seeing as Maito Dai took out four of the original Legendary Seven Swordsmen and we were standing at the docks. We got lucky that Kiri-nin weren't nearby or within earshot of us. I couldn't deal with any more hateful looks from them this week. Thankfully we were leaving today, having exhausted all of the history books of anything new.

When his story ended, he and Lee were in tears and Aurora was left with a sense of what he went through. She might not have thought it was a possibility of me not coming back from a fight before, but now she did. The look she gave me made me sad, and I chose not to tell her about my family.

"Another time…" I promised, but I might never tell her. It still hurts me, even after all this time. I promise, I won't leave you like that.

* * *

  
I was exhausted by the time we got home. The way home hadn't gone as easy as on the way there. We were ambushed a day after we landed back in Fire Country, the ninja were ex-kiri. They wanted Aurora dead and had tried their hardest, but they were against me.

"She cannot be allowed to live!" One of them proclaimed as they attacked. TenTen was quick to cover Aurora while we dealt with them. One of them nearly trapped her in a water prison jutsu despite TenTen being there.

I got a little lost in my head, only thinking of protecting her and not thinking about killing in front of her.

It took her looking at me with those fear filled eyes to realize it. She wasn't looking at me, just the blood dripping from my kunai and hand. I may have made a huge mistake in doing that, and regretted that I had been the one to show her, sometimes the only choice was them or you.

I chose to take the lead in the team formation from then on, not wanting to see Aurora's face. The feeling of running away came back and it was very hard to stop myself. I wasn't grounded anymore. _I need Iruka…_

Gai had noticed I wasn't there since the attack and thankfully kept Aurora distracted. He'd set her in his lap when we rested and played with her and her bunny. I wished to be there, but my mind was stuck in ANBU mode.

The sight of the gates was a blessing, knowing I'd be home soon and Iruka could help me through this. _When I had I become so dependent on him?_

* * *

  
I hated myself and the fact that I let her see that side of me. Iruka had taken care of Aurora, making sure that she didn't go to bed hungry. I couldn't bring myself to be there, so I stayed on the rooftop. He came to get me after she went to sleep, scolding me gently about being out in the cold.

The moment we got to our room, I pinned him to the wall, kissing him hard and biting his lower lip until he couldn't breathe. I needed to feel him, to feel that we were still alive. By the time I pushed him into the bed, I'd torn off most of his clothes. He looked a little miffed by the ripped shirt, but I couldn't help myself.

I was glad that he didn't ask about why I was like this and let me do whatever I wanted. I felt guilty for taking advantage of him, but he wasn't complaining. He seemed to be enjoying himself. I was kind of proud on how I could get him to beg like a whore and call my name before even starting. I finished tearing off his clothes, leaving marks all of his body as I made my way to his cock. He was watching me, moaning softly when I'd bite at a spot I knew would drive him crazy. I needed him to need this as much as I did...

I didn't hold back, grabbing the lube and making sure he was ready for me before plunging myself into his tight heat. He arched, crying up to the heavens as I kept slamming into him without pause. I watched him grab the sheets as he lost any other thought other than me fucking him in to the mattress. He didn't bother making me slow down and let me keep up the bruising pace. I knew he'd have my finger prints imprinted on his thighs and waist for weeks to come.

It didn't take long for me to find his prostate, making sure every thrust landed right there. Iruka was squirming under me, trying to push me even further inside until he finally came with a loud cry of my name. I know he'd hate me later, but I bent down and bit hard on his shoulder as I came. Iruka arched into it, surprising me that he did like it with a roll of his hips.

We hadn't fucked that hard since...well I wasn't sure now if we ever had. I had my head laid on his chest, his heartbeat the only thing soothing me right now. I felt more grounded, but my mind was still caught up in what happened.

"I'm sorry…" I didn't realize I had said it out loud.

"Hm?" He asked sleepily. He was just about to pass out. I didn't want to talk about the mission, so I let my mind drift back to how I felt during our love making.

"Did I...did I hurt you?" I looked over his bare chest, the bruises were starting to form from my kisses, at least the harsh bite mark I left on his shoulder wasn't bleeding any more. His brown eyes were still glazed over, but he wasn't completely gone.

"I think I'm fine….." He smiled down at me, wincing a little bit when he shifted to look at me better. "I'll heal, and…" he scratched his scar across his nose, blushing. "I really liked it." If he wasn't careful, I'd be giving it to him again.

"Maa...if I had known that, I would have done it sooner." Joking with him, but I didn't miss the blush darken. He really was more kinky than I thought.

Forgoing the offer to ravish his body again, I settled with tucking my head under his chin and holding him. I felt the air change a little around him. I had inadvertently alerted him to the turmoil in my mind by cuddling him this way. _Damn it…_

"What happened?" He asked, brushing his lips against my forehead as he ran his hand through my hair.

"Nothing…" I lied, but he knew this. He frowned, but didn't push it. Iruka knew better than to push someone after a hard mission. He pulled me closer, and I happily pressed into his chest. I could tell him more tomorrow.


	20. Chapter 20

Kakashi's View:

I didn't get much time to settle down after the mission to Kirigakure, which was becoming more and more of a common thing for me. Only two days later I was called on to another mission. I really did not want to go, but they needed the sharingan. Aurora was upset, but I really needed a moment to myself. This mission was a solo one, and I needed the time to be alone. It would give me time to think things over.

* * *

  
Iruka's View:

Aurora didn't understand why Kakashi was being distant with her. When he was dealing with something that confused him or was a threat, he put up a wall between himself and the world. My guess the ANBU used this as a way to detach yourself when killing. I also found out from Gai that Kakashi had killed someone in front of her. It had sent him into a spiral again. I worried about him leaving on this solo mission, but once he set his mind, there was no changing it.

"Dad?" I looked up from my kitchen table. I'd taken her back to my apartment. It was closer to work for me, which gave me more time in the mornings to spend with her. She was dragging the bunny on the floor by its foot, looking smaller than usual.

"Good morning." I motioned for her to come sit with me. She slowly came over, wanting to be in my lap. I lifted her up, knowing something must be bothering her. "What's wrong?"

"Why...why did father kill those men?" I knew it had affected her more than she had let on. Now I felt guilty for being so busy with work, I hadn't been able to stop by til yesterday. By then she was too tired to really ask any questions.

"They wanted to get to you, so he did what he had to do." It was hard explaining what it meant to protect someone, until you had to do it. "Those men wouldn't have stopped otherwise. I know it's not what I taught you, but sometimes to stop someone...you have to resort to that." I didn't believe killing was the only option and should only be done if all else fails. I'd learned that with Mizuki…

"Why do people want my power?" That was an even harder question.

"Well...some want to use it for bad things."

"They can't make me do it." she said defiantly, making me laugh.

"I know." How do I explain brainwashing to her…Maybe when she was older I'd try to explain what it was. I doubted she'd understand it now.

* * *

  
I wasn't left with much choice but to take her to class with me. None of the genin were available for babysitting and everyone I knew was busy. She was fine in the teachers lounge, and kept herself busy with coloring and practicing hand signs from a book I gave her. By lunch, she had drawings scattered across the floor of the lounge. Thankfully, the other teachers didn't mind.

* * *

  
The rest of the year went this way, Kakashi leaving on back to back missions and me having to take Aurora to school with me. I knew the village was understaffed on high ranking shinobi, but the higher ups had to remember that ninja were still human. I even asked Lady Tsunade about it, begging her to let him rest. She agreed after hearing about everything, but he had to finish this one. Unfortunately it would take him away from the village for a while.

It wasn't until early spring that Kakashi finally had a month off. It was late in February by then, the snow was starting to melt away and leaves were just starting to bud. I went back to stay at Kakashi's, making sure both of them were cared for.

Despite the warm weather, his house felt cold. It wasn't from Aurora's small outbursts, it was from Kakashi himself. The missions were tough, and I doubted he slept or ate much on them. At most, he had two days between each one and it had put him in an odd headspace. I wished Tsunade hadn't sent him on all of these solo missions.  
He still hadn't made amends with Aurora about what happened on the way home from Kiri and it still weighed him down after all this time. It also had affected Aurora and had her doubting herself.

* * *

  
"Kakashi?" He had been brooding on the couch, not reading his beloved book, even though he was holding it. I'd just put Aurora to bed and came down to see if he was coming to bed tonight.

"Her name is Tsukiko…" Was the first thing he said to me, or anyone, in a day and a half. I had no idea who he was talking about.

"Huh?" I sat next to him, putting a hand on his knee. He still had a dazed look, but was coming out of it a little.

"Aurora...her real name is Tsukiko." He repeated, like he had told this to me before. He hadn't.

"Ok? Is that why you've been so…" distant didn't even begin to describe it.

"Me?" Kakashi scoffed, seeming to finally come back to me. "Partly. She can't know this…" He was speaking in broken sentences, his thoughts unorganized from lack of sleep. I waited for him to finish. He eventually continued and explained to me everything they found in Kirigakure. "And then I killed someone in front of her…" He looked lost again.

"You had to."

"I could have made her look away. I wasn't thinking...I was too focused on my target. Anything could have happened to her…" Now I see, he was upset because he briefly lost track of where she was.

"Kakashi, I know you think she could have gotten hurt, but Gai and his team were there too. You know they would have done anything to keep her safe too." I knew he'd still feel guilty over it and would not live it down for a while. I let him lay his head on my shoulder, petting my hand through his wild hair. "She's safe. You're safe." He needed to hear those words.

* * *

  
Kakashi's View:

Time was passing too fast on me, and I felt that I was falling behind. I knew I was over thinking, but Aurora's birthday was now coming up next week. I missed so much… It was May now, and I honestly don't remember the last few months. I remember training with Aurora during my month off, but that had been about two months ago.  
I made sure I had her special day off, I refused any missions before or after it and nearly got thrown out the window by Tsunade. The weekend of Mother's Day wasn't usually an issue to get off, but everyone that had a mother still living asked for it off this year. Tsunade questioned why I wanted it off, seeing as I didn't have a living mother.

"Maa...that's the weekend of Aurora's birthday." I quickly told her before she did actually do what she promised. "The thirteenth, if you wanted to come by. However there won't be any drinking." This got a book thrown at me and a firm get out. I'd have that day off, but no promises on the day before or after. I could live with that I guess.

* * *

  
Around this time, Aurora picked up on the fact that everyone but her seemed to have a mother. This made her ask about her own, to which I explained to her that her mother had died. She knew that, but she wanted to know about her. I told her I didn't know because she had been from a different village. What kind of person was she if she fell for that killer? Had she been just as dangerous?

"Where's your mother?" She asked me as we passed a shop with cards out front, all with writings about Mother's Day. She could read, so I knew she knew what they said.

"I never got to meet her." My father had told me she was beautiful, but she had died not long after my birth. All I knew about her was that I had her grey eyes and she had long brown hair. I realized Aurora and I had that in common, we both lost our mothers very young.

"Does everyone have a mother?"

"Yes. Everyone has one. Just not everyone has one still living. Without them...you could say we wouldn't be here." The answer made her frown.

"What does that mean?" She pulled on my sleeve, making me look at her and not my Icha Icha book. _Why did she always ask these questions on crowded streets?_

"Well, women are the ones that carry the baby before they are born." This contradicted what I told her before and made her look at me like I'd said the sky was falling.

"Without them, we would never be born." This just seemed to confuse her more, and prompted her to ask how that was possible and if women actually ate the babies for them to be in their stomachs. Her panic over this caught the attention of others.

I pulled her off to the side into a small ally to explain that, no, women don't eat the babies. The babies were carried in the women's womb.

"What's a womb?" I had to stop the questioning before someone over hear us having this conversation. I promised her to explain what I was talking about at home. I'm sure I had an old anatomy book somewhere.

* * *

  
As in all anatomy books, no one was clothed so she had many questions on why girls looked different. Iruka came home to us sitting around the coffee table with the anatomy book open, which of course made his face red. It wasn't like he didn't know this was a long time coming.

"I see we're learning something?" He asked as he took his shoes off.

"I learned women have vaginas." Aurora still had no filter and I suppress a laugh at the look Iruka got. He also couldn't scold her because she was right, but I know he wanted to. "Why do they carry the babies?" It was an open question to either one of us to answer. Iruka wasn't sure, so I tried, but neither of us could explain very well.

"You know, I know a person that might know these answers. She does need the practice." I was going to pass this off to Sakura.

* * *

  
The pinkette was thrilled when I asked if Aurora could spend some time with her the next day. She didn't realize I just needed her to explain things that as her father, I didn't feel comfortable explaining to my three year old. Maybe if she was older, but this wasn't the time for that talk. She just needed more information on how her own body worked.

Iruka also has class and I had a report to turn in. This was the perfect chance to pass her off. It also happened to be the day she, Ino, Hinata and TenTen were going to the spa. They did this every so often and I got lucky it landed on today.

* * *

Aurora's View:

"Oh my gosh! Look how big you got!" Sakura-chan nearly crushed me when she hugged me. "Sorry!" She let me go when I almost turned blue.

"You got really strong." Father gave her his eye smiled. "Please, try not to crush her. Have fun you two." I watched him disappear in a swirl of leaves. I wanted to learn that, but he said not until I can control my chakra.

"Ready for a spa day?" Sakura smiled, taking my hand. "Ino, Hinata, TenTen and I all try to get together at least once a month for a girls day. It super relaxing and a great time to catch up!" I had no idea what a spa was, but I liked the idea of seeing everyone!

* * *

  
I learned a 'spa day' was just a day at the bath house, soaking and doing what they called girly stuff. The only difference I saw between them and my dads was painting their nails and wearing face masks. All I cared about was seeing Ino-chan and Hinata-chan again. Ino's hair was long again and Hinata-chan was letting hers grow; her purple hair was now to her shoulders.

After the face masks, everyone showered with flowery scented soap before soaking in the giant bath. I noticed they looked very different from my dads. I knew from the book that girls were different, but it wasn't anything like the book. Sakura noticed I was staring, and explained every girl is built just a little differently.  
"...Someday, you will too." She finished, using terms I didn't understand.

Hinata-chan was blushing the whole time until she covered herself in the water. She kept her arms over her chest, turning red when Ino noticed.

"What's wrong Hinata? You feeling alright?" The blonde asked.

"T-they keep floating…" She said softly, making the other girls turn red. They looked jealous. I looked around, but didn't understand what Hinata meant. There was nothing floating in the water.

"What keeps floating?" I asked, which turned their looks to embarrassment.

"Er…" Sakura-chan was going to explain, but Hinata-chan turned bright pink.

"Eh?! Oh...n-nothing...I mean…" She sank lower into the water until her nose was just above it.

"You see...every girl has breasts. Some...are bigger than others and…" Ino explained.

"They float?" That got them all to get a weird look of embarrassment mixed with something else. They didn't answer that verbally, but something about their reaction told me yes, they did. I wanted to ask what was wrong, but TenTen changed the subject to training.

I didn't know girls were much more talkative than boys. They also switched topics a lot and Ino liked talking about boys. I wasn't sure why though, what was so great about boys?

* * *

  
We all then went out for mochi after, which Sakura and Ino wished wasn't so good.

"I wish I could eat this all the time. But then I'd be too big to fit through the door." Sakura looked upset, but I wasn't sure she really was.

"I'm surprised that big forehead of yours does fit through doors." Ino teased her.

"Why will it make you big?" I asked them, worried there was something in it.

"Oh! Well...too many sweets isn't good for you. It can make you body weak if you eat too much of it." TenTen explained, scolding Ino and Sakura for worrying me. "It's ok to eat them, as long as you still eat real food too."

* * *

  
The rest of the day was spent shopping for clothes and cute things. Everyone kept finding outfits for me, saying I was the cutest thing ever. I was glad dad let me wear the mask shirt today, even if he made me tuck the mask away before I left. After the third outfit, I didn't feel comfortable and pulled it up. This just made the girls get starry eyed.

"She looks like a tiny Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura squealed while Ino was fawning over me.

"S-she is really cute." Hinata at least was quieter about it, the other three were making my ears ring and hugging me too tightly.

They went back to trying on their own outfits, finally leaving me alone to play in the kids area. I didn't like that much attention. I preferred Hinata's kind of attention, quiet and not super touchy.

* * *

  
It was finally time for daddy to pick me up, and I was more than ready to go home. As much as I liked them, I learned I could only tolerate Ino and Sakura in small amounts of time. Between the arguing and them doting on me, I was left kind of tired just from them. TenTen and Hinata were fine though, the purple haired kunoichi was quiet and even taught me how to tie a bow.

All of them together was a bit overwhelming though. I ran to dad as soon as I saw him, wanting to go home and away from these crazy girls. He gave them a look that they had had gone overboard with buying things for me, but didn't scold them as Sakura gave him the bigger of the bags. Even I hadn't asked for the clothes, they just bought it.

* * *

  
"My, I guess we won't have to go clothes shopping for a while." Dad said when we got home. He pulled out four new outfits and put them on my bed, one from each of them. TenTen's was similar to the one I showed her on our trip. It was a light blue short sleeve chinese style shirt, with light pink pants. Sakura's was a pink sleeveless dress that went to my knees and pale green shorts to wear under it. Ino had chosen an orange kimono style dress with a white tie and shorts. It was my least favorite of the outfits, only because I didn't like orange. Hinata's choice was my favorite though. It was a light purple jumper with pink butterflies running up the legs. There was a white short sleeve jacket that went with it that had a pink butterfly button on it.

"Maa...I see the girls had fun." I looked up and saw father had come in from their bedroom window.

"Seriously? Did you lose the key again?" Dad sighed, pinching his nose in frustration.

"No, I just heard you two up here. So, I used the widow." Father gave us an eye smile. Dad wasn't amused by it though.

* * *

  
Kakashi's View:

After scolding me , Iruka asked where I had been. I couldn't say with Aurora next to him though.

"Maa...you'll see." I shrugged and walked away, hoping he'd get the point and follow. "Aurora, time to get ready for bed." That got a plea to stay up later, but we had a party to plan.

Iruka got her to calm down after I said no and put her to bed.

* * *

  
It wasn't much, just a birthday banner and a pink and blue flowered tablecloth, but she loved it. This year, it was just Iruka and I at her party. That's the other reason I wanted Sakura to see Aurora. I just didn't realize the girls were going to go a little overboard, but they were all going to start training even harder soon and wouldn't be available for a while.

This didn't seem to upset her, seeing as I summoned the ninkin to fill in. Iruka didn't like having the dogs all over the house at first, but after a while they stopped picking on him. I may have warned them that they better knock it off; while both Iruka and Aurora were distracted, I might have pulled my mask down and bared my teeth at them. I was still their Alpha after all.

Bull was very happy to see his 'puppy' again, but was sad she was getting bigger. He couldn't drag her by the scruff of her shirt without her feet dragging now. She still let him try, laughing when she was able to get away.

Her cake was a sad one this year, but I had little time to make it and did the best I could. It had only just gotten out of the oven maybe an hour ago. It was too warm, icing melting off as soon as it was put on and mostly puddled around the bottom. It still tasted fine and Aurora was happy that it had pink frosting.

She was more thrilled with the new teddy bear Iruka and I got her. It was a giant one that was almost as tall as me. Both of us held its arms out when we summoned it into her room, making it seem like it hugged her when she launched herself into its chest.

She had yet to really get out of its lap and stayed there with Bull the rest of the afternoon. Pakkun and Bisque joined her there later and they all napped together, Bull acting as her pillow while Pakkun laid in her arms and Bisque laid on her leg. The bears legs were wrapped around them, acting as a blanket for her feet and a pillow for the giant dog. _Spoiled pups..._

"Think she likes it?" Iruka whispered as he leaned on my shoulder. I was watching them from her doorway, the three dogs knowing I was there the whole time.

"So do we." Pakkun smirked, stretching and rolling onto his back.

"Alright, you've been spoiled enough for the day." They were going to get too used to this. Bull whined, which woke up Aurora.

"You had to ruin it…" Bisque scolded Pakkun.

"Go on now." The three of them poofed away, the big grey one taking care to make sure she wasn't going to get hurt when he went away.

* * *

  
"The dogs really like her, don't they?" Iruka asked me while we cleaned the kitchen. Aurora was upstairs hopefully getting ready for bed and not making water bubbles in the sink again. She'd flooded the bathroom twice this week doing that.

"Yea, they think of her as a pack member." Though in Bull's case, she was his puppy apparently. The big dog never said much, but he did bark "puppy" at her a few times today.

"Is that why you growled at them earlier?" _So he did see that then…_

"Maa, they were being rude to you." And they kept asking why he smelled like me. I didn't need Aurora asking what that meant.

"Do you think she liked her party? I know it's stupid to ask...but..."

"She loved it, don't worry. I think what she really wanted was us." I made sure she would have both of our attentions today.

"You haven't talked to her about Kiri yet, have you?" Why did he bring that up now? He took my silence as a no. He was about to say something, but I cut him off.

"I will...I talked to her a little bit the other day about her mom. I know she'll have more questions…"

"It's better if she hears it from you than from someone else." Iruka set a plate down a little to hard. "You know more than I do." Oops, I neglected to tell him everything too… "You told me her birth name, what else did you find?"

"It's...an odd story." I sighed, making sure Aurora wasn't coming down anytime soon, and told him everything I found. By the end, Iruka had completely stopped doing dishes and had turned to look at me. Mostly he was concerned, but I saw the small flash of fear in his eyes when I said her birth father's name.

"So, it wasn't a trap after all? I guess that Kirigakure really is trying to change their name then." He smiled, taking it all in. "Did they...I mean do they want her back?"

"No, but that doesn't mean they couldn't try to steal her back." Lady Mizukage might be fine with her living here, but they're others that think she should stay. I had yet to meet them, but it was a rumor I heard from down the line. However, there's even more that want her dead.

Iruka sighed. "You're not going to be on the roof again, are you?" He was joking.

"Maa, at least you'll know where I am." I was only half joking though.


	21. Chapter 21

Aurora's View:

Father had another mission the day after my birthday, but he promised to make it up to me. I wasn't upset about that, I just wanted to know why he wouldn't talk to me about Kiri. Dad said he was just trying to make sure he had all the facts first, but I had a feeling he was lying.

Dad also had to go on missions now, seeing as there wasn't enough ninjas around. I understood their work was really important, but it didn't stop me from feeling alone.

* * *

  
I had escaped from the old lady next door, who was looking after me while my dads were gone. She was strict, mean and her house was full of cats. I liked cats, but these cats were mean. I didn't want to stay there anymore…so now I was on the swing at the park.

"Aren't you Iruka-sensei's kid?" I looked up to see a kid with a blue scarf looking at me. He wore goggles on his head and had a really annoying voice.

"Yea?" I stopped swinging to see him better. "Who are you?"

"I'm Konohamaru!" He reminded me a little of Naruto-kun, but even more annoying. "Why are you here all alone?" I shrugged.. "Oh...well, I don't have time to play, but maybe another time!" He was about to run off.

"Where are you going?" I got off the swing to follow him.

"I'm off to train to be the Hokage! I gotta get stronger than Naruto first!" He really was like Naruto-kun, just as loud and talking about being the next Hokage.  
"Bye…" I still would have rather had him stay to talk to though.

Other kids noticed that I was alone and started teasing me for it. It only got worse when I got angry and nearly froze the swing set. They started calling me a freak and weird again after that. I ran away, pulling my mask up again and not talking to anyone that tried to stop me.

I didn't stop until I reached the edge of the forest. I tried to meditate like dad taught me, but I couldn't focus on anything positive. So I didn't try anymore and let myself freeze the area around me. I just let myself go, the snow on the ground rising like targets for me to take down. I used my taijutsu against them, taking each of them down as the rose from the ground. 

* * *

  
Iruka's View:

Aurora was worrying me lately. She'd stopped talking to me about things after Kakashi and I got back. I tried to get her to open up, but no matter what I did, it wasn't right. Kakashi couldn't even get her to talk. This had gone on for two days now and I was thinking of taking her in for a psychological evaluation.  
She had also apparently snuck away from our neighbor while we were gone, who now refused to look after her and calling her a rude child. Kakashi got her to fess up that she had gone off to train, which explained her ice being more under control.

"Aurora, you know you can tell us anything, right?" She was sitting in the lap of her bear again, mask pulled up and staring at the wall. She didn't seem to hear me, but as soon as I moved to step into her room, she finally spoke.

"Why do they think I'm weird?" The voice that spoke sounded so broken, I wasn't sure if it was her.

"Who says you're weird?" Sure, kids could be cruel, but I wanted to know what was being said to her.

"The kids at the park...is it because I can freeze things?" She sat up, but still wouldn't look at me. I sat by the leg of the teddy bear, listening to what she told me. "All of the kids run away from me…"

"I...don't know why. But it isn't fair for them to judge you before knowing you." I reasoned with her. "Next time it happens, tell me ok?" Kakashi was at her door, listening but never did come in.

* * *

  
It wasn't until I took her to the park that I saw what she meant. A group of three girls were picking on her near the slide. Two had long brown hair, one in pig tails and the other pulled back from her face with a headband. The third had dirty blonde hair put into two braids. They all looked about her age, but were a bunch of brats. The worst of the three was the brunette with pigtails, the other two followed her lead and I watched as they dumped sand on Aurora's head.

"Hey, you three!" I called to them, putting a stop to their torment. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Playing sand monster." The pigtailed one said with a straight face. The two behind her looked spooked to see me.

"I don't think anyone wants to play that. Would you like sand poured on your head?" The girl wasn't even phased, the makings of a true terror.

"That's why she's it." _This kid..._

"Where are your parents?" I was about to have a firm talk to them about their child. She was lucky she wasn't my student as of yet, she would have been punished for this behavior.

* * *

  
This didn't stop Aurora's tormentors, and a few days later they were at it again. Aurora had been asking to play on the swings, only for them to tease her again. Only this time they were saying things I didn't know how to respond to.

"Your dad is the friend killer, why would we be your friend and play with you? You'll kill us then too." The leader of their group said. I don't know how the child knew about that.

"What are you talking about?" Aurora glared, the air around the playground getting colder. I knew about these chakra flare ups, but this wasn't what I expected. Kakashi didn't tell me she could change the weather like that.

"Midori…" The blonde backed away; even one of her friends thought she was going to far.

"Besides, who'd be friends with a freak like you?" At that, Aurora lost control and turned the playground sand into an ice rink. The three girls slipped and fell, along with the rest of the kids playing nearby.

"No. I'm. Not!" Aurora shouted, the sky above the play ground getting darker.

"Maa...you're right, you're not a freak." Kakashi's voice came from the top rail of the slide. "She's also not a friend killer." He jumped down, turning to the girls. "You shouldn't speak of things you know nothing about…" His voice lowered to a threatening level. This scared the hell out of the three girls and they ran for it, well...as best they could on the icy sand.

"Father…?" Aurora was scared as well, but knew he wouldn't hurt her.

"Yo." He gave me an eye smile like nothing had happened. "Let's go home."

* * *

  
Kakashi's View:

It wasn't a name I was proud of, the opposite really. I had hoped Aurora would never hear of it, but it seems some people in the village wouldn't let that name die. I had just come to terms on what happened...kind of. She asked what they meant.

"It's in the past…" I told her, taking her hand as we walked back towards home. She was still a little young to know about my past.

* * *

  
Iruka kindly reminded me that I needed to talk to Aurora before my mission to Amegakure. I'd be gone for awhile and it was obvious something was bugging her. The park incident was one of many episodes.

"Aurora?" I knocked on her door frame. As Iruka said, the bear was where she went to when she was upset. "Can we talk?" She looked up at me from a book she was reading.

"Ok." She said, sitting up and allowing me to sit on the opposite side of the bear. Pakkun was right, it was soft.

"About what you saw me do in Kiri. I know Iruka told you it was a last resort, but it is what happens in the ninja world." I knew she was upset to hear this, but she needed to know the truth. "I can't hide that from you anymore."

"Why does it have to be that way?" She had crawled towards me, allowing me to pull her into my lap.

"There will always be bad people in the world. No matter how hard you try, you can't always change their minds." I realized Aurora really didn't like the idea of killing and wondered what her future would hold. "That's what being a ninja means. Protecting your village, and the people you love, no matter the cost."

"So...why did they call you.." I put a finger to her lips, not wanting to hear her call me that. Of course that was confusing to her.

"Friend Killer Kakashi…" I looked away, gathering myself before I answered. "A long time ago, the world was a lot different. Over time, everyone of my teammates fell. Obito...was killed on my first mission as a Jonin. Rin..." I paused, regretting hers the most. "She was used against our village and...she stepped in front of my jutsu." I let her fill in the gap. "My Sensei also died while protecting the village in the nine tails attack." I wondered if I had said too much.

She didn't know anything about war, so she had no idea how hard all of these losses were. It took her a few minutes to think it all over, coming to terms that it took a lot of sacrifice to become a ninja.

"I never would hurt a comrade on purpose, Aurora." I reassured her that she was safe with me. "And back to Kiri, do you really want to know about your parents?" Of course she did, that's what she really wanted to know. I swallowed the fear and anxiety I had built up and told her what I knew. Mangetsu's story was filtered quite a bit, for now, and I told her her mother's last name, but I did not tell her her real name. She might accidentally let that slip.

"So...they...were bad?" She had understood that Mangetsu was a killer. "Does...that mean I'm bad?" The reaction was unexpected.

"No, no you're not bad." I let her lay her head on my chest, holding her closer. "No one is born bad, it's something that happens to the person that makes them bad. Your birth father...he was raised in a hard time in Kiri. He became who he was because of that." Through his eyes, he might have been doing the right thing. He was doing what it took to survive in his village.

"Then...why do people treat me like I am?"

"Do you remember what I told you?" Again she had been young when I told her people are afraid of what they don't understand. I told her this again, but sadly it wouldn't stop kids from picking on her. She hugged me closer, still bothered by something else. "Are you alright, caterpillar?"

"You still love me, right?" I held her tightly, realizing I had made a big mistake in taking so long to tell her. "Even though...the-they were bad?"

"Shhh...it's alright." I soothed her as she cried. I should have told her sooner. "Of course I do. I never stopped, don't ever doubt that I don't. I'm sorry…" I felt incredibly guilty for making her feel this way. I questioned if I really was a good father.

* * *

  
I laid in Aurora's bed with her, teetering on the edge of her little twin bed. After she fell asleep in my arms, I laid her down but couldn't leave her side just now. _I can't even protect her from me…_ I wished Iruka hadn't stayed at his place tonight. I needed someone to talk to, but it was too late to visit him. I also didn't dare leave the house, leaving her alone. Just before I fell into a light sleep, someone knocked on my door.

My prayers for someone to talk to were answered in the form of Gai.

"Rival!" I clapped a hand over his mouth.

"Aurora is asleep…" I hissed at him. I didn't let go until he agreed to keep it down.

"I heard you were back in town for a while! I came to see how you were." At least he was a little quieter.

"Just peachy." Or I would be if he would talk at a normal level.

"You sure? You look a little tired." He looked slightly conserned, but still had that stupid smile of his.

"Yea...just, having a bad night." I shouldn't have said that. I was suddenly pulled into a tight one arm hug, my face pressed tightly into his chest.  
"Don't fret Kakashi! I'm here to help you through it."

"Be quiet!" I yelled into his vest, knowing it wasn't enough to awake Aurora.

Gai finally sat down on a chair and listened. I told him what had happened with Aurora and he put his hand in his chin in thought.

"Hmm...so you tried to distance yourself again, eh rivil?" I sighed, just wanting him to get on with it. "Sounds like you need a day together! A day to strengthen your daddy, daughter bond! I know the perfect place!"

"Maa, I can't go anywhere with her right now." I put my hands up, slowing him down before he planned it all out. "I'm leaving in two days on a mission." But maybe when I get back, I can do that for her.

"That still give you some time to spend together!"

* * *

  
I took Gai's words to heart, and did try to make the day before I left somewhat fun. I had paperwork to fill out, but before I went off to do that I got Aurora ice cream to keep her busy. I'd left her in the hallway to get the last of the intel we had on the village. We still had very little information on what I was walking into. The cover story was that I was going to Amegakure to invite them to the Chunin exams. I was actually going to see if any of the rumors were true.

"I'm sorry, but we need you to leave this afternoon." Tsunade pushed the scroll into my hand. The mission had been moved up because of the need for extra security back home. I was needed back here during the Chunin exam, which pushed the mission up. _So much for a good day…_

"Alright." I didn't argue, knowing she was under a lot of pressure right now. One wrong word would set her off.

"I thought you didn't have to leave yet." Aurora asked when I had to drop her off at home.

"I'm sorry, but the mission is very important." She understood the need for my skills, but I know she wished we had more time together. "I should be home soon." I kissed her forehead. "Be good."

* * *

  
Aurora's View:

"Come on Aurora, you can do it!" Dad called back to be as we ran around the village. He had the weekend off and promised to spend some time with me. I didn't know it was going to be more training, but at least we were together. I wondered how father ran so fast with his mask on, it was really hard to breath. I refused to give up though, I wanted to be able to help them. If this is what it took, I could do it.

I ended up being able to keep up with him, but was super tired after. I dropped to my knees to catch my breath.

"Aurora, just take the mask off." Dad tipped my head up by poking my forehead. "Why do you want to wear it all the time?"

"I wanna be like father." I saw the hurt on his face. "I mean…"

"No, I get it." He smiled softly at me. "You want to go on missions...you want to explore the world as a ninja." He still looked hurt by it though.

* * *

  
Dad had to work a little while at the school today, making sure that the kids of Konoha were ready to become the next generation of ninjas. I wasn't old enough yet, but I wanted to join the academy. I also couldn't stay in the teachers lounge anymore, I was considered a liability and could help students cheat. I have no idea how though, it wasn't like dad showed me any of his tests. I was allowed to train just outside the grounds though, which was stupid.

I found an area behind the school, making snow form on the ground. I wanted to see if I could change the form of the snow again, like I had when I got mad. At first it was just blobs with no real form, but soon I was able to make them look more and more like people. After an hour, I was able to cover the area in snow people, quickly destroying them in a flurry of kicks.

I jumped a little when I heard someone come up behind me, turning around to see an old man with a bandage wrapped over his eye.

"Such talent...what a shame they won't let you enter the academy just yet." He smiled at me, but there was something I didn't like about him. His chakra felt weird and heavy, like it was going to suffocate me.

"W-who are you?"

"Right now, I'm no one, but one day I hope to be your mentor." The old man made me feel uncomfortable.

"I should go…" I started walking backwards, father telling me to never turn my back on an enemy.

"Now, what's the hurry?" His face darkened, he wasn't going to let me leave. I tried to run, but a masked man in a black cloak appeared behind me. "I only want to talk. Won't you listen to an old man's lessons?" I was scared and could feel the air get cold again. _No, not now...deep breath..._

"Don't you want to learn to control it?" The old man stepped forward. I tried to run to the left, but the masked man grabbed my arm.

"Let me go!" I yelled, trying to get away. I couldn't control when I could turn into water quite yet, but I really wished it would happen right now.

"Not until you listen." He grabbed the upper part of my right arm, pulling me close. I screamed as my arm started to burn. "This seal will allow you to control your powers, but there's a small downside. If you speak a word about what happened, it will kill you by draining your chakra." I felt tears falling down my face. "It works by cutting you chakra in half, allowing you to learn how to control it in small doses. When you finally are able to control it better, come to me and I will remove it."

"Oi! Get away from her!" I turned to see another masked man coming at us. The one behind me let me go, running at the one trying to stop the old man.

"When you're ready, ask for Danzō…" He grinned, poofing away in smoke along with the masked man.

"Aurora!" The other masked man ran to me.

"NO! Stay away!" I yelled at him, feeling my chakra flare, but nothing happened. My arm started to burn, the mark turning red. I remember screaming and the man coming to my side. He put his finger to my forehead and knocked me out.

* * *

  
I woke up in Lady Tsunade's office, the same masked guy that had helped me was leaning over me. I gasped and tried to sit up, but he put a finger to where his mouth would be.

"It's me…"

"Tenzō?" He sighed, taking the mask off. "It is you!" I hugged him tightly, happy to see him again. He patted my back, happy to see me too.

"Aurora…" I looked up to see Lady Tsunade standing behind him. "What happened?"

"I'm afraid she can't tell us…" Tenzō shook his head and stepping away to show her my arm. "As I feared, this seal is a binding seal." It was a tiny square with four smaller squares on each corner. "This one is modified and wired into her chakra. If she tells anyone it will paralyse her."

"How do we break it?"

"No need...I saw what happened. It was Danzō that placed it on her." The wood user looked sadly at me. "I only heard that it would seal away half of her chakra, but we don't know what that could cause.

"Shit…" Tsunade was biting her nails and looking out the window now. "Tenzō...I want you to keep an eye on her. We have to make sure he can't do whatever he is planning to do to her. You'll be posted by Kakashi's home again. Do not inform Iruka of any of this just yet."

* * *

  
Dad wanted to know how I ripped the pink top Sakura got for me, but I couldn't say anything. Thankfully Tenzō was there, but he was wearing the scary mask again.

"Found her training to far in the woods. Due to the Chunin exams, there's a restriction on children being left alone. You might also notice an increase of ANBU in this area."

"What for?" Dad asked as he pulled me towards him.

"There's been a threat. Nothing to be concerned about, please, have a good night." Tenzō bowed and flashed away.

"What happened?" Dad asked when he got me inside. "Are you alright? Why is an ANBU bring you home?" He had knelt down to my height. I couldn't tell him...I wanted to so badly, but if I did I might die.

"I...I can't…" I felt tears in my eyes again. "I want to, but I can't…"

"Hey...don't cry." He hugged me close, wiping my tears away with his thumb. "Whatever happened, I'm just glad you're safe."

* * *

  
Iruka's View:

I knew something bad had happened when the ANBU showed up with her, but I didn't expect it to be this bad. I had noticed the bandage around her upper right arm, but neither one of them said anything about her getting hurt. Aurora hadn't wanted me to help her wash tonight either, which was very strange for her. I figured it was just her wanting to be more independent. I noticed though, she forgot her pajamas in her room and took them to her. So much of being completely independent.

"Aurora, you forgot your clothes." I said as I knocked, opening the door a little. I saw her turn around, catching a glimpse of the mark on her arm as she pulled her towel around herself. I pushed the door wide open, taking a gentle hold of her shoulders. She knew she was caught and showed me her arm. She looked terrified that I had found out.

"Sweetheart…" I said softly, cupping her face. "I...I understand why you can't tell me now. Can you tell me who?" She shook her head. "What did they look like?"  
"An old man…" I saw the mark turn red and she stopped talking.

"I see, I'm sorry…" I put my forehead against hers. "You're going to be ok." I had to give her some hope. "Let's get you dressed and in to bed, ok? Tomorrow will be better."

* * *

  
I woke up to her pulling on my sleeve. She looked worried.

"What? Are you ok?" I quickly looked her over, but she was fine.

"Why are you sleeping at the coffee table?" I looked around, realizing I had fallen asleep reading over every sealing scroll I owned. I brought all of them over, deciding Kakashi's house was safer for her. I'd seen the traps he had set, he made sure who ever tried would die instantly. The were all chakra sensitive, with Aurora's chakra combined into it so she couldn't set them off; I noticed mine had been added as well.

"I...was trying to find out more about your seal." I hadn't seen one like that before. I did know it was a binding seal from the way she reacted when it activated. "So far I found out as long as you don't talk about it, it won't hurt you."

"Can you take it away?" I looked down at the scroll I had open when I fell asleep. It was about removing a seal, but it wasn't easy. The best way was to kill the person who placed the seal, unless they chose to release it themselves first.

"Nothing yet...but don't worry, we'll find something." I wouldn't stop trying, this person hurt my little girl.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure if it was clear, so here's a break down. Aurora calls Kakashi Father and Iruka Dad. She only says daddy any more if she's super scared. Please R&R!

Aurora's View:

Ever since that old man had attacked, I hadn't been allowed to go anywhere alone. Dad was with me most of the time, other times it was with the old woman next door. Dad convinced her to let me stay again and I tried to tell him that she was evil, but he didn't believe me. He thought I was being dramatic. I know she hisses like a cat when she's mad though…

I was also forced to wear longer sleeve shirts, which meant I had to wear the orange yukata Ino had gotten me. The orange color was brighter than my hair, but in the sun light my hair looked like the same color. Even the white band around the neck and the white obi tie would reflect the color. The kids around town teased me for looking like a pumpkin. Dad assured me I was a cute pumpkin, but I didn't like the nickname.

* * *

  
Dad let me come to class today, saying that I had to try not to be a distraction. I couldn't help it, some of the kids just watched me instead of paying attention. I wasn't doing anything but reading and coloring in the corner near the window, to me it wasn't all that interesting. Some of the girls called me cute while others whispered about me.

"Class! I know we have a guest today, but please pay attention." Dad yelled, causing everyone to jump and quickly look towards the board. I watched dad pinch the bridge of his nose and sigh. "Alright, I know it's close to school getting out for the year. Let's go outside." Everyone cheered. "Meet out by the training targets!" He yelled over them as they filed outside.

"Can I go too?" I asked after the class was cleared out. He gave me a sympathetic look.

"Well...alright, but stay right by me, ok?" He caught me as I gave him a flying hug. "Ok, ok, come on. Let's get down there before anyone has the chance to hurt themselves."

* * *

  
The kids in dad's class weren't that good at throwing kunai. I thought the older kids would be better than me. One kid kept missing completely, others got close but never hit the target. I knew it wasn't ok to judge, but even I could've hit these targets. It might not be dead center like father's kunai, but it was close. The kids feet weren't even in the right position. I looked towards dad, but he was helping a different kid. I bit my lip, deciding I could help a little bit and walked up behind him.

"Y-you should put your foot back." The kid turned, glaring at me.

"What would a little kid like you know?" He scoffed, turning and hitting the tree behind the target. He got really mad and turned back to me. "You made me miss!" That wasn't true at all.

"I was trying too…" I tried to tell him I was trying to help, but he wasn't listening.

"If you think you can do it better, than show us!" I knew he was trying to make me look stupid, but I took the kunai anyway. I looked over to see dad had overheard and was coming towards us. Before he could take it away, I threw the kunai, hitting the target in the blue circle. All the kids, and dad, looked stunned.

"That had to be dumb luck!" A kid I recognized, Konohamaru, called over from the other side of the yard. The kid who had teased me gave me another kunai.

"Show us again!" He told me, trying to get me to take it before shoving it into my hand. "Come on!" I sighed, not liking everyone watching me, but threw the kunai again. This time it was just off center.

"No way!"

"How can she do that?! She's just a little kid."

"Alright, enough!" Dad finally called over the class. "Ten laps, now!" Everyone groaned, complaining it was too hot, but went to run around the track anyway. "Aurora…" I looked up to see dad standing over me with his hands on his hips.

"I wanted to help…" I looked down, pushing dirt around with the toe of my left shoe.

"I know." He knelt down. "But you can't do my job for me." He ruffled my hair, making me pout. "Hm...you've given me something to think about here…"

"What?" I asked as he stood back up to watch the class.

He smiled but didn't explain himself.

* * *

  
Father finally came home after almost two months on a mission. Dad wanted me to clean my room and I wasn't allowed to come down until it was clean. I heard him downstairs talking with dad, but he sounded worried. He looked really concerned about something when he finally came up to my room.

"Father!" I called as I ran to him to hug him. He didn't kneel down like usual. "What's wrong?" I asked, tugging on his sleeve, thinking I'd done something wrong.

"Maa..." He ruffled my hair, knowing I hated that. "I hear you had quite the adventure while I was gone." He finally knelt down, allowing me to wrap my arms around his neck. "Care to tell me about it?"

* * *

  
Kakashi's View:

I picked her up as she told me all about the "old man" that caught her in the woods. She and I sat on her bed, her in my lap, as she told me what he did.

"I see. He hurt you?" I knew he had, Tenzō told me everything. Iruka had no idea who had done it, and it was to stay that way. Danzō's appearance since the Third's death was concerning. No one knew of his plans anymore, seeing as he wasn't supposed to be here anymore. His ROOT had been disbanded when Tsunade came to power, but it didn't seem to deter him.

Aurora nodded, pulling at her right sleeve. "I..I'm not supposed to show you…"

"It's ok to show me. Tsunade filled me in." It was a lie, but she would at least open up thinking the Hokage had said to. She pulled up her sleeve, showing me the binding seal. Leave it to Danzō to make one designed just for her. It was bound to her chakra, making it very difficult to remove. I couldn't without risking hurting her or possibly damaging her chakra network in the process.

"Maa...you're very brave to go through that." It had to have hurt, chakra sealing was known to burn like hell. I ran my hand over it, thinking on how to break it.

"Can you get it off?" Her eyes were full of hope, I didn't want to crush it.

"I can't say for sure, but I know we'll find something." Or make him pay, whichever happened to come first. I hoped it was the latter, the old bastard has had is coming for a long time.

* * *

  
Aurora and I found out the next day how badly the mark affected her. She had been told no to try using ninjutsu and had done the best she could. Today though, I wanted her to.

Outside, I had filled a bucket of water for her to practice some of her water jutsus, but she couldn't. That was very unlike her, seeing as she had been able to make it into ice crystals and water bubbles since she was two. Now...she couldn't even make it ripple. The chakra she had left to use after the seal filtered it out was too weak.

"Why can't I do it?" She was upset, rightfully so.

"It's that seal…" I was looking at the small ripples in the water, seeing they did react a little to her emotions still. "I might have a counter seal...but…" I looked up to her, hoping she understood there was a chance it would not work.

* * *

  
The seal was trapping her chakra inside of her body, preventing her from casting any jutsu. In theory, a release seal over it would allow it to open. That was the theory...it was convincing Tsunade to let me do it was the hard part. I knew she had heard about the attack, what I didn't know was that she had seen the seal already and didn't even want to risk trying the Gedo Seal Release on her. We still had to do something, it could later be used to control her and use her against us. It wasn't a thought I wanted to have.

"Lady Tsunade, I get you don't want to because it could hurt her, but we have to try." Aurora's ice powers were the only thing keeping her safe. Sure, they were also the reason she was hunted, but sealing it was the worst option for her.

"Kakashi, I've never seen or heard of a seal like that before. For all we know it could make her explode." Tsunade argued.

"Let me try…" I was begging her, but managed to keep my voice at its normal volume.

"Bring her in then…" She gave in, not wanting me to try on my own. "I won't risk her life." Aurora was brought in, having waited outside with the ANBU at the door. I'm sure they were annoyed by her questioning of what they did all day.

* * *

  
Of course Aurora protested. She didn't want to come down to the scary basement at the hospital. However it was were they did all of their sealing jutsus. I had to admit, Aurora had a point. It was dark, damp and only lit by sparsely placed candles.

I had to carry her inside, the entire time she hid her face in the crook of my neck. I felt her hold on me tighten the closer we got to the sealing room. I was thankful she wasn't really strong yet or she would have hurt me.

"Daddy, why are we here?" She really is scared.

"To try to get the mark on your arm off." I was trying to get her to let go just a little so I could breathe better. "I promise no one will hurt you." _Not while I'm here…_

Tsunade led us into a room on the left, inside where two other ninja, the sealing experts. Shizune was the lead of this team and had been going over something when we came in.

"There you are! Shall we get started?" Shizune was trying to be positive but it came off a bit frantic. Aurora tried to bury closer, but she was as close as she could get. Shizune noticed she scared her and got a little self conscious for it.

"Kakashi." Tsunade looked to me and then to the center of the room. She needed Aurora to be set there, alone, while I helped break the seal.

I set her down, but she didn't want to let go. I knelt to her height again, making her stand on her feet.

"I know you're scared, but you need to be a big girl for me right now, ok?" I put her forehead against mine. "It's ok, I'll be right here if you need me." She bit her lip, a nervous habit she had picked up, before nodding and sitting down. "That's my girl." I gave her shoulders a soft squeeze before stepping back. "I need you to take off your kimono ok?" I had to write up her arm and around the seal still and couldn't do it with it on. She was shy about it, but she was still wearing the tank top with the mask and white shorts. I let her put her mask up, wondering why Iruka made her tuck it away every time he saw her.

"Ready?" I asked, pricking my finger with a kunai and started writing around the seal. She was a little freaked out about me having to use my blood, but I told her I was fine. This seal release had been modified as well, seeing as her seal was a modified binding curse seal. Tsunade needed the seal itself sealed in order to even attempting to remove it. This is where we all came in, in case it didn't work the experts were there to reverse what I did.

I stepped back, making sure she wasn't going to run to me before taking my place outside of the sealing circle. I made the hand signs, the words in my blood circling the mark and placing a different binding seal over it. She cried, but other than that she was ok. I knew the next part wasn't going to go the same way. She looked up at me, but I couldn't go to her just yet.

"Everyone be ready…" Tsunade said, stepping forward and placing her own marks on each point of the bigger square of the curse seal. She then touched the center of the marks making the seal turn red.

I stopped myself from running to Aurora when she screamed, knowing Tsunade was doing her best. I watched the seal rotate clockwise until it was more like a diamond than a square. The floor under them got a light frost over it, but Aurora jerked and made the seal go too far and back into a square formation. This caused the seal to reverse completely, releasing all of her chakra in one quick burst. The entire room froze, and I watched in horror as Aurora herself started to turn to ice.  
"Shizune!" Tsunade yelled, making the burnette call her teammate forward to the edge of the circle. With their help, they got it to turn back to the diamond formation, but the damage was done. "Set the room for emergency surgery!" Before I could even offer to help, I was shoved out of the door, forced to just wait it out.

* * *

  
I sat in the waiting area, watching the scene play over and over in my head. I couldn't get the sight of my head. Aurora's skin turning icy blue, her hair turning white with chakra depletion... Tsunade had stopped it, but her hands and feet had been coated in solid ice. I shouldn't have done this. I should have just let things be until we had more information. I had my head propped in my hands, ignoring everyone who passed me. I was worried I'd gone too far, pushed too hard again.

"Kakashi." I was pulled from my thoughts by Lady Tsunade herself. "She's fine." She gave me a soft smile.

"What happened?" I demanded to know what had gone wrong.

"I didn't account for both of her bloodlines reacting to protect her. The moment the seal was reversed, both clan defences went off with terrible results. The Hozuki side tried to form her into water while the Yuki side released her ice…" She sighed. "Both acting at once backfired and nearly froze her instead."

I had a feeling it was meant to happen, to prevent anyone from trying to reverse the seal. "Thank you, Lady Tsunade." I closed my eyes as I stood, hoping to take Aurora home. The blonde stopped me before I could move.

"I can't release her just yet." Of course not… "I worry that it could happen again. Even with us fixing it...I won't keep her for more than one night." She promised, knowing how I felt about hospitals.

* * *

  
Iruka was pretty ticked at me for not telling him about what we were doing. He found out about everything when he came to visit us. It was also really funny watching him try to not yell to loudly in her hospital room. I tried to tell him she was ok, Tsunade was the best medical ninja around and nothing bad could happen.

"Something bad already did happen!" He covered his mouth when Aurora moved. She was on a heavy pain killer so I knew she wasn't really waking up. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"At least she's not blue anymore…" I slipped while looking at her. She was almost back to normal, but she still looked very pale. Iruka looked like he was about to wring my neck.

"What did you…"

"I...didn't want you to worry." I quickly tried to cover myself. It was true, but now he was even more worried. _Maybe I should stop hiding things…_

"Damn it Kakashi…" He was frustrated with me, but more so with the fact I had endangered Aurora. He didn't know how heavily that weight on me.

"I should have told you…" It was sort of an apology. "She couldn't use her chakra with the seal as it was. It needed to be broken." Hearing that made him forgive me a little, but I knew he wouldn't let me live his down for a long time. I wouldn't let myself live it down either.

* * *

  
After a couple days of rest, Aurora was more than ready to try again. Being forced to stay inside was driving her, and us, crazy. So far, she hadn't had any chakra outbursts and the new seal was holding. Now we just had to see if she could do any ninjutsu. We had to wait until Tsunade felt her levels were back to a normal level first.

Again, I had the bucket set outside and waited for her to try. She wasn't trying too hard, understandable seeing as the mark used to make it impossible, but I needed her to do it.

"Aurora, I promise it won't make you lose control." I tried to reason, but she just gave me a look. "Just once." I gave her an eye smile. Even a ripple in the water would be fine…

"I won't freeze?" I shook my head, tired of repeating myself. Finally after that, she did actually try, freezing the entire bucket. She was excited to do that, but I knew it still wasn't her full power. It was maybe half, but it was better than before.

* * *

  
That night, I laid in bed wondering what else I could try. My mind kept drifting back to the fact that this all happened because I wasn't here to protect her. I rolled over, nearly squishing Iruka. I forgot he had stayed over to watch Aurora tomorrow morning.

"Hey…" Iruka pushed me off, fully waking up when I had rolled on top of him. "Kakashi...what are you doing?" He was annoyed at being woken up like that.

"Can't sleep." I think he thought I was trying to wake him up for something a little more exciting than insomnia. "Do you think I should retire?" Iruka gave me a look like I really had completely lost my mind.

"What?" He sat up, hovering over me. I sat up with him, looking him in the eye to tell him, I wasn't joking.

"I could protect her that way…" He made me stop talking.

"I don't think retiring as a ninja will protect her. In fact, it could put her in more danger. You and I both know how important your missions are and how important you are to the village. Doing that...it could leave a hole in our defences." He was talking to me as another shinobi and not a father or lover. "I hate to say it, but the village needs you…"

"So does she." I ended his rant. "And I can't choose the village over her." I didn't think it was possible for those words to come from me, but there they were.

"Why do you think I'm here?" I looked back to him, not realizing I had looked away. "I'm here to take over when you can't be. I know...I've been busy with school, but I make sure she's safe too. We can't be there for everything…" It clicked that I had told him this with Naruto during the Chunin exams. _So this is what he felt…_

"You're right…" I pulled him close. He usually was. "I can't be there for every little thing…"

"But you can make sure she's prepared for the worst." He pulled back a bit to look at me. "I know." He smirked, making me really want to teach him a lesson.

* * *

  
"You did what?" I looked at the chunin, dumbfounded that he had kept a secret from me. "And you called me a…"

"I know, I know...but I couldn't let Aurora over hear us."

"That doesn't excuse you from being a hypocrite." I smirked back at him. Behind my back, Iruka had looked into getting Aurora into the academy early. She wouldn't go everyday, not just yet, but she'd be in the gifted classes. It would consist of a small group of kids around her age that would be allowed in early. Sort of a pre-academy thing. He was only telling me now, just after waking up and the day before the test because he wasn't sure she'd be well enough.

"She's been bored and…"

"She'd be safe." That was the other reason. Having somewhere to go three times a week would mean we wouldn't have to find someone during the other four days. She could train there on these days, seeing as she'd be a student finally. "What's the test?"

"No, I'm not letting you cheat for her."

"Stubborn…" That got me a playful slap on my ass. He really shouldn't have been surprised when I pulled him back into bed and pinned him there. He knew better than to start something with me and not finish.

* * *

  
Aurora was thrilled when Iruka revealed she was going to be tested to enter the academy tomorrow. She had waited so long. She wanted to make sure she was ready and asked if I would spare with her. Of course I agreed. I took her out to the training grounds this time, needing more space than just my backyard anymore.

She was getting better, but I still didn't even need to stop reading my book. More than once she did get me to use my other hand, but more often I didn't need more than my legs.

"W-why is that book so interesting?" She panted, getting up again after getting tossed again. I wasn't going hard on her, never intending to actually kick her. I merely flipped her over, she just had yet to learn to always land on your feet.

  
"Hm...it just is." She glared, the look less menacing with her mask on and more cute.

  
"Why won't you let me read them then?" I blushed, never wanting her to read these.

  
"Not until you're older." I scolded her. "Now, are you going to come after me or not?" I think she pouted, but did it anyway. She had no killing intent though, which was fine for now. She was only four...she had a little while yet to learn.

* * *

  
Aurora's View:

The test was nothing more than being able to preform all of the hand signs. All the training father and I did was useless for this test, but as least I passed. Dad drilled the signs into me since before I can remember.

I liked the classes so far, but I didn't like my classmates. Yuri had long, platinum blonde hair and green eyes. She usually wore a light green top, blue pants and a pink scarf tied into a bow around her neck. Midori was the pigtailed girl from the park and usually was wearing a brown and purple kimono style top. Her brown eyes always held some sort of hatred aimed at me. Yuri -chan and Midori-chan were quick to become friends, leaving me out of their circle.

Sora-kun...he was weird. He looked normal though with short, light brown hair and honey colored eyes. He usually wore a red top with tan shorts, but it was what he carried with him was what made him weird. He used puppets, but they were really creepy looking and he talked through them. One was always on his back, smiling weirdly at people behind him. He was also a little older than me, but was held back one year because he had transferred. He was nice though, but just...odd.

Ebisu-sensei was even weirder and more of what Sora called a pervert. It was true, he was easily distracted by pretty women and not in a very concealed way

.  
"Sensei, why do you stare at women's breasts?" Sora asked one day while we had class on the rooftop. There was a billboard in the distance with a lady in a tight pink dress, leaning forward do you could see a little into her shirt. Ebisu-sensei was distracted by it.

"What?! I would never disrespect a woman in that way."

"Then why is your nose bleeding?" Yuri-chan asked. I wasn't sitting with them and was sitting towards the edge of the building. Midori made it clear she hated me, so I kept my distance. I hated her too. I didn't listen to their weird conversation until I felt someone shock me in the arm.

"Oopsie…" Yuki-chan had come up and poke my shoulder. She couldn't control her lightning ability all the time and shocked people on occasion. "Come on! Sensei wants us to play tag!" She was always cheerful.

* * *

  
Sora was it, and the three of us were running around town to keep away. The goal was to be the only one not tagged. Yuri was quick to become the second one it. While running, I felt Midori come up behind me and before I could stop her, she shoved me. It was hard enough to trip me, knocking me off the roof and into a gross mud puddle. I didn't hit as hard as I could have, seeing as Sora was nearby and had caught me with a chakra string. It slowed my fall just enough to keep me from breaking my arm.

"Guess the freak is it." Midori smirked from above us.

"Hey! That's not fair!" Yuri landed next to her. "You pushed her! You're supposed to be a team…" Her big green eyes tearing up.

"Don't you get it? She'll only betray you." Midori tried to reason

"You say that, but then you trip your teammate. What if...we were in a real mission." Sora shouted back, helping me up. I didn't know what to say, no one but my dad's had stood up for me before.

"I guess she'd be left behind." Midori glared at them. "You guys don't get what it means to be a real ninja! Sometimes you have to continue and leave your team behind."

"You're wrong…" I looked up to her, the stupid smirk was gone. "My father said that those who don't follow the rules are scum, but those that leave their team behind are worse than scum. No matter the mission, you should never leave your team behind!"

"Your father is stupid then…" The brown haired brat turned away and left us there. I knew she was wrong...but her words hurt. I thought everyone knew about never leaving a teammate behind, but there we still people who would selfishly leave them behind just to live.

"Are you ok?" Sora asked, poking my cheek to get my attention. "That was a big fall…"

"Yeah…" My knee was scraped but I was fine. "Thanks for saving me." Yuri jumped down, accidentally landing in the same puddle.

"Eww...it stinks!"

* * *

  
Iruka's View:

The group of gifted kids was pretty small. It had Aurora, a girl with long, platinum blonde hair, a boy that had just transferred from Suna and the pigtailed brat from the park. They were not in my class, but I knew Ebisu well enough to trust him with them. I heard that the blonde and the brat were quick friends but Aurora was shy. She didn't talk much there but was performing quite well.

From her teachers account, she'd be able to join the next incoming class. Both Kakashi and I were proud, but I worried it was all to fast for her. I didn't want her to think all she could be was a tool for the village. I knew Kakashi didn't think of it that way, but I didn't want anything to get warped in her mind. The rules of a shinobi were confusing and I knew that some people took them far too seriously. Kakashi had at one time.

Today though, she came home covered in dirty water, mud and the worst smell was coming off of her.

"Eh...how was class today?" She kind of glared at me, as if how she looked and smelled wasn't any indication to how it went.

"I hate Midori…" Was all she said before going upstairs.

"Maa...hate is quite a strong word." Kakashi was holding his nose as he went to follow her to see if she was ok. "I take it she's the reason for…"

"Everything!" Aurora yelled, irritated with his roundabout questioning. She slammed the bathroom door, shutting us out for a while.

"Must you push?" I chided the confused silver haired man

  
"Did I push?" He could be dense about feelings sometimes. "Eh...she'll be ok." We both knew she'd talk to us eventually.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is where the story The Dove and the Crow starts to blend in.

Kakashi's View:

The next year flew by, Aurora's extra training proving to be vital before she entered the academy. The binding mark was holding her back, but she had learned to use her chakra sparingly. She was accepted in her first time through the entrance exam, having a top shinobi for a father and a teacher for a dad, she was more than prepared.

She was taking after me, entering the academy early and already earning high marks. She got lucky and ended up in Iruka's class, though I might have bribed someone. Although it seemed to be at her disadvantage.

The kids knew who she was and teased her for being a teacher's pet. This didn't bother her, but it did put a distance between them and her. She was also taking after me in the form of being a loner. I wished she wouldn't, but the other kids didn't seem to be giving her a chance. The only one who stayed her friend was the boy, Sora. He was a nice kid, just odd.

She was training on how to avoid obstacles along the rooftops while I sat amongst the rooftops, thinking on how to help her with her classmates, when a familiar chakra appeared in front of me. The laugh was unmistakable.

"You've grown a lot, haven't you, Naruto?" I had known he was coming home soon, but he was a little early.

"Naruto?!" Aurora said as she landed near us, tired from jumping around the rooftops.

"Kakashi-Sensei! Aurora-chan!" The blonde jumped over to us, telling me I hadn't changed at all. "Woh! You got so big Aurora-chan!" He lifted her up and spun her around. "Oh yeah! I have something for you." He said, pulling a book out of his bag. Aurora looked over my shoulder, curious as to what it was.

"You...how...this is…" I was shaking with excitement.

"This is the latest in the Icha Icha series! It's kind of boring, but you'll like it." I couldn't contain it and started reading it right then. Aurora tilted her head, wondering why I liked these books so much. We then joined Jiraya and Naruto through the village. Aurora kept asking me about the book, but I brushed her off. She gave up and went to talk to Naruto. She wanted to know all about his travels and he was more than happy to tell her. At some point, he lifted her up and put her on his shoulders.

* * *

  
Along the way, the Sanin told me he'd leave Naruto back in my care, as promised.

"I fear the Akatsuki is getting impatient, they may make a move on Naruto soon. I'm going to head around and see what more information I can gather." We both heard Naruto yell, seeing he had found Sakura. She had blossomed into a beautiful young lady and was trying to get Aurora to stop hugging her from atop Naruto's shoulders. She liked Sakura and had missed her too. Tsunade was with her, discussing something before we came up.

I listened to them catch up, absorbed in my new book, when Konohamaru showed up. Naruto put Aurora on the ground as Konohamaru used the sexy jutsu. I was so glad Aurora was here to see this…

"Father?" She had come back to me, confused on what just happened. She knew of the replacement jutsu, but this was a new one for her.  
"Er…" I was dumbfounded at how immature he still was.

Before Naruto did his "new and improved" version, Saukra punched him into the ground. I ignored them for the most part, still reading and holding Aurora close. Sakura's strength scared her. I felt the younger of the idiots hide behind me, while Sakura was yelling at Naruto.

"Hey, Sakura, calm down. You're scaring Konohamaru." I tried, but she wasn't going to let them get away for being immature boys.

"Jiraiya...Naruto has grown to be more like you, hasn't he?" Tsunade teased, making Jiraiya grin sheepishly. "Right...The nostalgia ends here. Kakashi."  
I snapped my book shut, looking up at my two old students.

"Maa...it's been a while, hasn't it? From now on, you two will be on missions with me. It's different than before. It's no longer as teacher and pupil. Starting today, we are equal shinobi."

I had Aurora step back as I pulled out the bells from my pack. "Well...first I'm curious to how you two have developed. The rules are the same as before, if you don't come at me with the intent to kill, you'll never get the bells. We'll meet at the training grounds."

* * *

  
"Can I come to see the bell test?" Aurora asked on the way. She was supposed to meet Iruka after school, but instead she had followed me.

"No." I told her, again. She wanted nothing more than to train with me lately, to show how good she actually was. She was good, for a five year old, but the village was about to be in danger again and I needed to make sure my other students were up for it. I would not have her involved in this situation.

"Why not? You said I was just as good as them."

"That was a few years ago. You still have a lot to learn. You're not ready for my test." And she wasn't. She had it in her mind it was better to be alone than to fight in a team. She'd learn the hard way, but it wasn't time for that. "Go, now. I have things to do." I was being hard on her, but she had been a bit of a pill lately.

* * *

  
Aurora's View:

I sat on the swing outside of the academy, waiting for dad to be done. It wasn't fair...the second Naruto came back, father started paying attention to him more. I know dad and father care for him too, like they did for me, but I still felt a little jealous. I decided I was tired of waiting and ran off, not caring if dad would worry. I wanted to see who else was back.

* * *

  
I ended up in the middle of town, not seeing anyone I recognized. I thought I heard Sakura, but it wasn't possible yet. I was sure they were still at the bell test. It was getting late, and I knew dad would be out looking for me now. I was already going to be in trouble, so why not make it kind of worth it. I went to go get dango at the dango shop when I overheard my father talking. He was talking to the weird guy, Jiraiya. I guess their training had ended... _Thanks for telling me..._

"Why would the Akatsuki start with flashy moves? What's their objective?" I heard father ask.

"I don't know that much, I'm going back out to investigate some more." _Who are they talking about?_ I felt someone's chakra flicker and felt them behind me.

"Little lady, what are you doing out this late?" I looked up to see father with his hands on his hips, leaning over me. The eye smile wasn't a happy one.

"Err…" I stammered, unsure of what to do now that I was caught.

"Ah, we didn't get to talk much earlier! You must be Aurora!" Jiraiya came up behind us, putting a hand on my head. "Nice to formally meet you. You weren't trying to spy on us, were you?" I shook my head, scared of both of them. "Good!"

"You're supposed to be at home…" Father looked angry with me. "I'm sorry, but we'll have to continue this meeting later…"

* * *

  
"Where have you been?!" dad yelled when Father and I got home. "I've been everywhere looking for you, do you know how worried I was?"  
"Maa, she's fine." Father was still angry, but not like dad was. "Go upstairs, we'll talk in a minute."

I waited for them, hearing them talking downstairs about me. I guess I was worrying them, but father was apparently just like me when he was five. So why was he upset with me?

"You want to explain?" Father asked, suddenly appearing and not bothering to knock on the door.

"I don't see the big deal…" I could take care of myself. I had to when they were working.

"You know how dangerous it is for you to be out there alone." He said as he sat by me. "I know you don't understand that, but…"

"There's people out there who want to hurt me...I know!" I'd heard that one for the last two years. I remembered everything from the trip to Kiri...He waited for me to calm down. "I...don't want to be watched all the time."

"I get it. You think you're tough enough to be on your own, but you're not. You will be one day, but you aren't there yet." _So what was the point of me training?_

"You were five when you were allowed to be on your own." I blurted, realizing my mistake.

"I didn't have a choice." I hated when his voice went low like that. "You don't understand why, so I'll explain. My father...he went on a mission and broke the rules. He saved a friend instead of completing the mission. The village turned on him and he killed himself. That is why I was on my own." He stood up. "Think about these things…" He left my room, leaving me alone. I felt how hurt he was from it, knowing he was keeping some of the details to himself.

I didn't know that was what happened...now I felt a burning guilt in my stomach, but father wanted nothing to do with me right now. So I fell over onto my side, facing the wall and cried. I didn't know why, but the thought of father losing his dad like that made me think, what would I do if that happened to me? I realized I had it better than he did by having a family.

I didn't hear dad come in, but I felt him brush my hair from my face.

"I know you're upset, but do you understand now?" he said softly. I tried to nod, but ended up just burying my face further into the blanket "I know it's tough to hear, but your father and I...we're trying to give you what we never had."

"What happened to your parents?" I couldn't remember if I had asked.

"You remember learning about the nine tails attack? Well...my parents died during the attack. They saved me, but I was too young to help them. I know how you feel, wanting to help fight, but trust me...it's too soon." he looked really sad all of the sudden.

"Dad?" He smiled sadly, laying next to me and pulling me into a hug.

"You have plenty of time...don't try to grow up so fast."

* * *

  
Father was going to be sent on a new mission with Sakura and Naruto. I was allowed to go with them to the missions desk, but not on the mission.

"You're late!" Both of them yelled at father, but it wasn't his fault.

"This time I was delayed filling out paperwork for the new team."

"Today is our first mission as a new team! Can't you be enthusiastic?" Naruto complained, but actually, he was happy. No one could tell though, unless you really knew him. I saw father deflate at the comment.

I learned Naruto was picky when it came to missions. He didn't want the first mission given to them. Lady Tsunade was pissed and father looked concerned. I was afraid someone was about to get thrown out the window.

* * *

  
Kakashi's View:

_Please, don't talk so selfishly...she'll get angry at me._ I begged silently, not wanting any violence to break out over his stubbornness.

"You haven't mentally matured at all, have you Naruto?" Iruka scolded. Sakura apologized, putting the blonde into a headlock.

"The Third was more sensible…" Naruto muttered, setting off Tsunade. I took the mission statement while Sakura argued with Naruto.

"It's bad! Fifth!" A voice yelled from the hallway. She burst in, shouting the Kazekage had been kidnapped by the Akatsuki. Everyone in the room became still. Tsunade flicked the paper back out of my hand.

"Right, Team Kakashi, I will tell you your new mission." Our blonde Hokage was worried as well. We were all to go to Sunagakure and back up the team there. I felt Aurora take my hand, worried about what we were walking into.

* * *

  
Tsunade and Iruka went to the gate with us. Aurora now gripping tightly on to his hand. She was upset, but I explained we would be back. This mission was going to be dangerous, but she didn't need to know that.

"Well, off we go!" Naruto said, anxious to get moving and save his friend, Gaara. Sakura said goodbye as well, but I only waved at Iruka and Aurora. I wasn't good at goodbyes, even after all this time.

I saw worry cross Iruka's face before he played it off by saying, "Do your best."

Before we left, Jiraiya cut us off to discuss the dangers of taking Naruto there. He warned Tsunade first, then Naruto himself. He made sure none of us over heard too much. The Akatsuki might make a move on Naruto as well...

"Kakashi, make sure he doesn't do something stupid. He's all yours."

"Yeah." I could handle him.

"Come on, let's go!" Naruto started to head off without us, leaving me no time to say bye.

"See ya." I waved again, following the two.

* * *

  
Iruka's View:

I watched as Naruto and Kakashi left, feeling like a part of me was leaving. Naruto was like...well, like a son to me now. Of course I would miss Kakashi too, but I worried more about the blonde. _He was still young..._

"Worried?" Tsunade asked me. I did, but…

"Nah...he isn't a weak shinobi I should worry about. Sakura too…" Both the Sanin gave a soft smile. I knew in my heart that Naruto could do just about anything.

"Maturity is a weird thing." Tsunade agreed as she looked down to Aurora. "Someday, you'll be able to join them, too." Aurora had a smile under her mask. It hurt to think about, but someday I'd be watching her go off on her first chunin mission.

* * *

  
Aurora was deep into her training, using it as a cover for how she felt. I knew she missed her father, but it was more the fact that she had felt abandoned by him. He had a bad habit of not explaining his reasons behind things and apparently didn't tell Aurora that Naruto was also in danger.

"Sweetheart, please come inside." I tried again. She had set up targets all over the yard and was using her shuriken to take them out. She'd improved quite a bit and could hit the targets dead center. She landed next to me, looking tired and beyond worn out from doing this all day. "I made your favorite." She loved pork buns and I was trying to bribe her into taking a break.

"Really?" I sighed, finally getting her attention. "Thanks dad!" She came running in after that.

Kakashi hadn't been gone more than two days, but this time felt different. It was effecting Aurora far more than usual. The only time I saw her is when I could bribe her to come inside or at school. I needed her to open up to me.

"How has school been?" I tried, but she just shrugged. Sure I knew how most of her day went, I somehow ended up having her in my class. "I see you've made a friend."  
"Sora's not really a friend…" She admitted, even though they had known each other for a year. He seemed friendly enough, seeing as he was always trying to get Aurora to smile. It had yet to work.

"Oh? Well, why not?"

"He's...weird." She made a face when talking about him.

"Because of his puppets?" She nodded. "That's what his ability is, he's a puppet master." Or he would be one day. I also knew about the reason he was transferred. The political side said it was to strengthen our ties to Sunagakure, but the reality was his family wasn't the best. He moved here to live with his aunt to get away from it. Both he and Aurora needed a friend, so why not try to get her to be his friend.

"He can talk through them." It wasn't unheard of for puppet masters to be ventriloquists too, but it was more rare. I had wondered who had been making voices appear out of nowhere...

"How is that weird?" I asked. "Does he say weird things?" She nodded, shutting me out again. I was noticing a small pattern to her silence. If there was something she couldn't explain well, she'd shut down and stop talking. This was one of those times, where I didn't understand how Sora was weird, so she wouldn't talk anymore about it. "Alright, well if it does bother you maybe speak up to him." I doubted she had tried that. She did take after Kakashi more than me.

* * *

  
Aurora was just on edge again today. I wondered if it had something to do with school, but I couldn't get her to say. I know she was bullied for her powers being weak, but it wasn't her fault. The seal had made it that way. The latest I heard was no one wanted to talk to her because she was known to lash out. I hadn't witnessed it in class and had no idea what they were talking about. I pulled her to the side while they did laps, seeing she was pushing herself harder than needed.

"I know you don't want to talk, but is everything ok?" I tried to look her in the eye, but she looked everywhere but me.

"I'm ok…" She was lying to me. That hurt more than I wanted to admit.

"I don't know what's wrong until you tell me." I reasoned, which finally got her to look at me. "Please, sweet pea, tell me." I knelt down to her.

"Father will come home...right?" She looked broken again. "He won't die?" I see...the talk Kakashi had with her about his father had stuck with her in all the wrong ways.

"Of course he will." I put a hand on her shoulder. "Your father is one of the strongest shinobi out there. Trust me, he'll be ok."


	24. Chapter 24

Kakashi's View:

The new technique I developed had a terrible downside. I had expected that, but I discovered I can use it more than I thought. After using it three times though, I was left too exhausted to move. Gai was helping me walk back, but I was slow, frustrating him.

"Sorry about this, Gai…" I apologized, but he just grit his teeth.

I wish TenTen would stop telling us to hurry up, it was pissing Gai off even more and I worried what he was going to do to me. He suddenly threw me, making sure I landed on his back. The younger ninja thought it odd, seeing as Gai chose to carry me on his back like a child...There was nothing I could do in protest, so I let him carry me. At the speed he was going, we'd be there in record time. However, Gai seemed to forget I couldn't really hold on with my arms, so more often than not he was basically dragging me.

I know I passed out at some point due to chakra exhaustion, because before I knew it we were at the village gate. If he hadn't stopped so suddenly, I know I wouldn't have a small concussion on top of it all. I remember Gai wanting to report in, but someone said I wasn't looking so good just before I passed out again.

* * *

  
I awoke in a hospital bed, stripped of my mask but thankfully the nurse had pulled up the sheet. I wondered who they had been, to know I liked to keep some secrets about myself. I bet it was Tsunade.

"Maa...Here again…" I sighed, wondering when the blonde would come back and demand me to recount what happened. She knew I couldn't move anymore and I know she'd use that to her advantage.

"You're awake?" I looked over, seeing the person I really wanted to see. Iruka had poked his head in to make sure I was before letting our rambunctious little girl in.

"Father!" I was helpless and couldn't brace for her jumping on me. I was grateful she had gotten better aim, gone were the days when she'd knee me in my 'no spot.' She landed next to me, but she did lay across my chest while wrapping her arms around my neck. "You're ok."

"Yeah…" Just really tired. "Sweetie, I can't breathe…" She stopped hugging me and sat up, allowing me to breathe again.

"Sorry, she really wanted to see you." Iruka took a seat in the chair by me. "Be gentle, Aurora.

"She's fine…" I was happy to have them here, even if I couldn't move to greet them. "Caterpillar, before anyone comes in, could you fix the sheet so it covers daddy's face again?" She did, but Iruka gave me a look that said I needed to never say that again.

"Can you say what happened?" Iruka composed himself.

"I used the Mangekyo Sharingan too many times…" I could feel my legs again at least. "I'll be alright…" I couldn't say more without Aurora over hearing. I didn't want her to hear all the details, but I would eventually tell her of the Akatsuki.

Iruka had brought over some books and a new shirt with a mask attached. With my legs no longer numb, I was able to move enough for him to help me get the shirt on.  
"Strange for you to be dressing me…"

"I promised to never hit someone who is already injured…" Luckily our banter was over Aurora's head. Iruka had no idea how appreciated it all was, I just couldn't pass a chance to tease him.

"Hate to break up the party…" Tsunade had come in during this, neither of us had heard her enter. "I need to talk with him." Aurora pouted, but left the room with Iruka. They would be allowed back in later.

* * *

  
"Three of them? There were only two reported." Tsunade was looking out the window.

"I can see why, it seems there's a set of twins on the team…" The blonde girl didn't seem as eager to hurt us though. In fact, she held back many times when she could have taken me out and taken Naruto. "The female though, she was trying her best not to hurt us."

"Tsh...don't tell me you've gone soft. I'm sure it was a ploy…" It hadn't felt like one though. "Anything else?" I tried my best to shake my head, but it was useless right now. "Right...get some rest. You should be able to get up by later tonight."

* * *

  
Later that night, long after Aurora and Iruka left to find Naruto, Tenzōu came to my room. Tsunade had been right and I was able to sit up, reading when he came in.

"Something wrong?" I asked, turning my head to look at him. That's when Tsunade and Jiraiya came in. "Ah...that bad…

"Heh...well..it seems I'm your team's leader, senpai." I was surprised, but glad it was him that was taking over.

Jiraiya explained to us what happened during Naruto's training. He had lost control of the Kyuubi inside of him.

"Exactly how many tails did you witness, Jiraiya-sama?" I wanted to know if anyone was in danger.

"There've been two times in my life I almost died…" He explained he had been spying on the women's bath and Tsunade nearly killed him as he started removing his top. "The second time, was when I was training with Naruto...this was after witnessing the fourth tail." The scar on his chest was huge…He went to explain that rage was the trigger and once he reached the fourth tail he lost himself. He would go wild like the nine tails its self.

"Even Yondaime's seal…"

"It would seem the seal is starting to weaken…" I took it all in, listening to him say that it was shortening his young life every time he changed this way.

"And that is why we need you, Yamato." I looked to Tenzō, now Yamato, wondering why he didn't say that first. Of course...his wood style technique was the result of an experiment with Hashirama-sama's cells. It would allow him to quickly suppress the outbursts, sealing the Kyuubi's chakra back inside.

"We're counting on you." Tsunade left with that, a heavy burden was placed on his shoulders now. After Jiraiya left, Yamato was finally able to talk to me.

"Danzō has set one of his own on the team as well."

"What?"

"I think it's to get close to Naruto, using him as a way to get what he wants. He could also be placing him there to get close to you too…" Both of us were at least on the same page.

"Can you handle all of this?" I asked him, hoping he could both watch Naruto and this new member at the same time. He crossed his arms at my playful insult.  
"Piece of cake." He smiled.

"By the way...who came up with the name Yamato?" That got him to glare at me.

* * *

  
Iruka's view:

Kakashi was settled in for the night at least, but I knew he wouldn't sleep there. He hated hospitals, they were too clean in his opinion and smelled funny. I think he was just a big baby and didn't like being forced to take medication.

Aurora had been happy to see him again, of course, but I didn't have time to talk to Kakashi about her. She had been edge for the two weeks he was gone, not once settling down until she heard he was home. He had said he was similar to her, so maybe he understood why better than I did.

For now, I settled for letting her help me find Naruto. We owed him ramen, seeing as she had run off on me last time, ruining our chance to catch up.  
"Over there!" She pointed, finding the blonde boy with Choji and Shikamaru. They seemed troubled by something.

"Huh? Iruka-Sensei!" He spotted us and sprinted over. "Did you see a guy with a weird scroll and pen come this way?"

"Er...no?" He seemed upset by this, but let it go. "Aurora and I wanted to invite you to ramen with us, unless you're busy?

"Really?! That sounds great! I'll see you guys later!" I heard them yelling back at him about finding the guy he was talking about. It seemed I had distracted him.

* * *

  
"So, Naruto, who was the guy you were talking about?" I asked as we sat down at the counter in the ramen shop.

"Oh...well, there was this guy on the roof that attacked us with these ink drawings...but then he just ran off."

"How do you do that?" Aurora asked, finally her mask was down again. I wish she'd show her face more, she had a beautiful smile.

"Er…" Naruto was at a loss.

"I would say that's his special ability." I said as the ramen was served to us. Tenchi always knew what we wanted without even having to ask anymore. I thanked him as we started eating.

"Like a Kekkei Genkei?" At least she was getting it, Naruto on the other hand did not.

"Did you pay any attention in my class?" I scolded him, earning a teasing jab to his arm from Aurora.

"Of course I did!" He pouted, turning to the red head and poking her back. This ignited a poking battle between them, but it wasn't in a mean way. Aurora even laughed when Naruto gave up and tickled her instead. There looked like siblings, which made me think...what if they did just that? Maybe it was what Aurora really needed, someone she could rely on that wasn't Kakashi or me. And...Naruto was kind of a part of the family anyway.

"Hey, Iruka-sensei, what's that look for?" Naruto back to me after he captured Aurora and held her in his lap. "You sick?" I felt my cheeks turn a little red.

"No...no." I scratched the scar across my nose. "You two...are just cute is all." The look Aurora gave me was pretty funny.

"Eww! No!" She pushed away. "I don't like Naruto like that!"

"Eh?!" Naruto was shocked.

"Ugh...no that's not what I meant." I sighed, but they were grossed out by it and refused to talk to me for a while. They even went so far as to whisper about what was wrong with me. Aurora learned a new word, pervert, and what it meant. Oh was this going to go well back at home…I could not wait until Kakashi came home.

* * *

  
I did invite Naruto to stay with us if he wanted to, but he said he had another mission to go on. He ran off to get ready and I saw Aurora instantly get sad again. That's when it clicked, she remembered Sasuke. The thing she was missing and could not explain was the raven haired boy. Naruto cheered her up because she remembered the two of them usually being together.

"He'll be back. Don't worry, he's…"

"Naruto." She smiled up at me. "I know, but are there bad people after him?" How she found out, I'm not sure.

"Well...yes. It's because of what is inside of him. He..holds the Kyuubi in him." This realization brought up questions that I know she wanted to ask, but I didn't want to answer.

"The nine tails? But...I thought that it attacked the village and the Fourth Hokage killed it."

"Not exactly…" I explained that the Fourth had sealed the nine tails into Naruto when he was a baby. Now she knew what happened, but she had questions I didn't know the answer to

"How did he do that? Why was Naruto there?" I hadn't really thought of that, but I knew who would. Kakashi had been the Fourth's student, I'm sure he knew.  
"Let's ask you father that.."

* * *

  
Aurora's View:

Father refused to tell me anything about Naruto and the Fourth being connected. I had school off today and went to visit him while dad did some paperwork at the academy. Father seemed to be irritated that I saw through his lies again.

"Then how was the nine tails sealed into him?"

"Maa...Aurora, sometimes you're too smart for your own good..." He sighed, finally putting the book down. He glanced around the room, making sure the rest of the beds were empty before he motioned me closer. "I'll tell you, but you cannot tell anyone, got it?" I nodded, wanting him to just tell me already.

"The Fourth and Naruto are connected, it's true, but the story is far more complicated…" The look he gave me told me he really didn't want to think about it. "All I can really tell you without both of us getting in trouble is this; the truth of it all has been in front of you all along." I frowned, he tricked me again. "You'll understand one day." He gave me an eye smiled like it explained everything.

* * *

  
I was growing bored with school. I'd learned all of this before, passed almost every test and could throw shuriken and kunai better than the rest of the class. Sora was the only one who could keep up. The only problem was this seal on my arm. My chakra was maybe a fourth of what is should be, which didn't allow me to make shadow clones. That was what was holding me back, and I needed to find out how to remove it. Father said to just wait, once he was out of the hospital he'd look into it again, but I couldn't wait that long.

After school, I went to the library to find more information, but the seals were complicated. I didn't have the chakra level to do them, but I could still study them. So far, I learned it was a binding seal mixed with what was known as a curse mark. The only way to really break it was to kill the person who cast it, or a legendary sword no one has seen in a hundred years.

I sighed, rolling the scrolls back up when I felt someone come up behind me. I turned and saw a pale boy with short black hair. He had a strange smile on his face, which didn't seem to match his demeanor. He also held a book about how smiling can affect people.

"Hello, I'm Sai."

"Hi." I tried to sidestep him but he blocked me. "Um...I need to go that way."

"Oh, I'm sorry." He seemed to be waiting for me to introduce myself still, but he creeped me out. "What are you researching?"

"Seals."

"Seals...I see. Someone like you shouldn't be looking into those." I glared, trying to figure out what he meant by that. "You're too weak."  
"How would you know?" I was glad that I was allowed to wear the mask all day today, I didn't want to give away how much that hurt. I wasn't weak...it was the seal

"You're still a child. You'll only get into trouble if you do…" He was being weird so I decided to leave. "See you, Aurora." I heard him say, making me run out the door.

* * *

  
How did he know my name? Who was that guy? His chakra felt dark too, similar to the old man way back then...I looked down at the water. I ran all the way to the lake near the old Uchiha compound, finally stopping there to catch my breath. I was supposed to find dad again, but I had questions I needed answers to that he couldn't give me. The most pressing was who that guy was and what he wanted. _Why did he care I was looking up seals?_

"Aurora? What are you doing here?" It was Shikamaru.

"Nothing…" I said, standing up on the rail to get a better look at the water. I rested my head on the railing and watched him in the reflection of the water. "What are you doing here?"

"Going home. The Chunin exams are coming up again, I've got a few things left to get set up. Shouldn't you be going home too?" He leaned his back on the rail, looking up to the sky. "I'm sure Iruka-sensei is worried about you."

"Yeah…" But I didn't want to go home yet. "Shika-kun, do you know anything about seals?"

"Seals? Huh..I'm not an expert on them, but I know about them. Why?" He turned his head to look at me. I pulled up my sleeve, revealing the mark to him, I wasn't supposed to, but I could trust Shikamaru. "Never seen anything like that…who gave it to you?" I pulled my sleeve back down as it turned orange, warning me not to say anything else.

"I can't…"' tell you' was caught in my throat, the mark burning now.

"Right...a binding mark. It burns when you talk about it and some can even go so far as to knock you out. Whoever did that to you, they're the only ones that can get rid of it." He pushed himself off the rail. "Don't go looking for trouble now. Kakashi would kill me if that happened." He was about to walk away but stopped. "You coming? I'll cover you, this time." I was surprised he wanted to walk me home, but took his hand anyway. "You owe me." He smiled down at me.

* * *

  
"Eh, it was nothing." Shikamaru was trying to get dad to stop thanking him for walking me home. It wasn't that late, the sun was still over the horizon. "Really, it's on my way."

"I still owe you something." Dad promised him, but Shika-kun just waved him off before leaving. As soon as the door shut, I knew I was in trouble.

"Aurora...I don't know why you insist on breaking curfew. Have I don't something to make you not want to come home?" Dad looked hurt when he turned back around. "What is going on?"

"You won't tell me anything…." I let out, having had enough of it. "Both you and father hide things from me, why?"

"Is this about Nartuo?" I nodded, he was half right. At least he had been actually listening, unlike father. "Sweetheart, I told you all I know. Did you father say anything?"  
"He said the truth was in front of me all along. What does that mean?" Dad looked just as confused as I was.

"Knowing you're father, it's obvious to him but not to us." Dad admitted. "I'm guessing you went to see him after sneaking off again?" He couldn't see me biting my lip, but he probably knew I was.

"Yes." I was supposed to wait...but I couldn't. "I tried to wait."

"I know...there was more to do after class than I thought, but that's no reason to sneak off on me." I know they both still worried about me getting kidnapped, but I was stronger now. I could fight off an attacker if needed.

"I know…" I'd been told at least a hundred time already. He just didn't get my need for some freedom and my need to know more about the world around me. Father did, but he wasn't here at home.

* * *

  
Naruto was back from their long back to back missions, I really wanted to see him but class was dragging on. Class today was on chakra control, which I'd known about since I was two. This is why I chose the window seat, so I could daydream and listen at the same time, but today I was really distracted. I felt Sora jab me with his pencil, alerting me to the fact that Iruka-sensei had spoken to me. I had to remind myself to call him that at school…

"Are you even listening?" I saw he was mad at me, but I didn't register that he had been talking to me for a while. He sighed. "See me after class…" Now I really knew I was in for it…

"I get you're excited to have Naruto back in town, but you need to focus in class." I was now sitting in the front row while dad talked to me. Class was out and everyone rushed out. He could sit on the front row of desks this way to talk to me. "As punishment, I want you to write me an essay on how chakra is controlled."

"What!? No…"

"Due tomorrow." He said sternly, giving me no choice. He knew I knew about this stuff, so why was he forcing this on me? "You may go. I'll see you at the hospital."

* * *

  
When I got there, I was surprised to see Naruto and Sakura there. As I opened the door further, I saw that the weird guy was also there.

"You again?" This alerted everyone to me, father wasn't happy I interrupted.

"Oh, hello." I was starting to hate that smile. "I didn't think I'd see you here."

"How do you know her?" Naruto glared.

"We met at the library. Aurora, right?" The odd boy said.

"I never told you my name…" This got father to give him a dark look.

"Oh...that...I suppose you caught me. I read a file on you is all."

"Let me guess, Danzō wants you to watch her as well?" It was a threat.

"Yes. But I have changed my mind. I won't turn you over to him. You see...Danzō likes to...collect people with unique abilities. He wants you to join."

"Sai...you…" Naruto wasn't pleased to hear this.

"Like I said, I changed my mind…" He gave that smile again.

"You had the chance to grab her at the library, didn't you? What made you change your mind?" Father asked, I absentmindedly grabbed my arm with the mark.

"I can't say." Sai looked back to me. "But it has to do with her arm, that's why you were looking at seal scrolls, right?"

"Sealing scrolls?" Sakura was the one about to scold me. I looked to my father, he looked worried, and tired, but gave me a nod.

"Go ahead…" He closed his one eye, waiting for me. I lifted my sleeve, Sai's expression never changed, but Sakura looked shocked and Naruto looked angry.

"Danzō did that? But why?" Naruto was asking father, but never taking his eyes off me.

"Maa...have I neglected to tell you? You have been gone for awhile..I forget who I told." He was stalling. "Aurora here is quite special as well. It's true, Danzō has been after her since I found her...though it wasn't known to me until he made his big move. Her ability is controlling ice. Do you two remember Haku?" Sai looked confused, but the other two knew who he was talking about. I recognized the name, but I didn't know who he was. "She's from the same clan as him, as well as abilities from the Hozuki clan. He sealed all but a fourth of her chakra."

"Why?" The pink haired girl asked.

"Not sure, but knowing Danzō, he saw her as a threat."

"What did I do?" I asked, wondering why I was sealed in the first place.

"You were simply born." Sai sounded sad, but his face had really yet to change since I came in.

* * *

  
Kakashi's View:

Having Aurora here complicated things, but I decided I was tired of trying to hide anything from her. She was determined to find things out anyway, so I let my team go on with what they had come here for. Learning Sai was targeting her at one point made me wonder which side he was really on.

"Right! About our mission." Naruto started.

"I already heard everything from Yamato, he told me about Sasuke as well." Aurora perked up at the name. So she remembers him after all.

"We're out of time...at the rate we're at...we aren't strong enough to bring him back. He's gotten too strong." Naruto admitted. I looked back to my book.

"Well, you only need to become stronger than him, right?" Naruto was shocked by my words. Sakura filled me in on the fact that Sasuke's improvement wasn't normal, he'd been using the curse seal. That's why I wanted Aurora here, to hear what the mark would do if she tried to use it. The power came with a cost.

"You'll just have to get stronger at a faster rate.

"Yeah, but how?" Sakura asked.

"You don't think I've been sitting here just reading do you? I've been thinking this whole time, and I've come up with something. This kind of training might be best for Naruto, or should I say only something he can do. With this training, you might even surpass me." This got all four of them to listen intently. "I'll be with you during this training. It's going to be quite different than before."

Before I could really finish anything, Team Asuma showed up. The crowd was a little much, making Aurora come to me and sit by me. Each member seemed to be muttering about different things to each other. Ino liked Sai and Shikamaru promised to help Naruto with Sasuke. They didn't think I heard, but I did.

"You all can go ahead to Yanikiku Q." Asume told them. "Team Kakashi can come along too. I need to talk to Kakashi alone."

"Hey! Wait, Kakashi-sensei, what about the training?" Naruto tried to break up the party, but it wasn't the time.

"Oh...right, we'll talk later." That upset him but he left. "Aurora, why don't you join them?" She didn't want to, I couldn't blame her, Sai was going with them.

"Na, she can stay…" Asuma assured me. After the kids left, Asume sat by my legs, making Aurora curl into my lap.

"So, what'd you want to talk about?" I asked him as someone else knocked on the door.

"There you are."

"Oh, Kurenai. Do you need something?" It wasn't rare that they were together, but Asuma suddenly stiffened.

"Well, I heard Asuma was here, so.."

"Right, Asuma, you had something you wanted to say?" The older man stood stiffly, I saw sweat on his forehead.

"Oh, nothing. I'll catch you when you have time." He was quick to leave with the red eyed woman. But...now I really want to know...


	25. Chapter 25

Iruka's View:

"Sensei please!" Aurora was keeping her voice down so the class across the way didn't hear her.

"I'm sorry, but if you don't I'll have to fail you." I told her, which made her shrink back, the hurt visible in her eyes. Looking away from me, she stepped up to the rope that was strung across the river. She did as she was told, wobbling, but able to get halfway.

"Come on, you can do it!" I hear Yuri cheer, but I saw Midori move forward and kick the other post that held the rope.

"Midori!" I yelled, but it was too late. Aurora lost her balance and fell in. I sighed, expecting her to come up, but she didn't. That's when it had dawned on me...I wondered how it was possible we had let it slip, how we had never taught Aurora such a basic skill like swimming. I regretted not teaching her, sick with myself that I hadn't remembered that when I forced her walk over the rope over a deep part of the river. The entire class had done it, some had fallen in, but Aurora wouldn't. I thought she was being defiant, but the truth was, we failed her.

"Iruka-sensei!" I heard Yuri cry, but I already had my flak jacket off and dove into the water. I grabbed her around her waist and pulled her back to the surface.

"Are you alright?" I asked her, pulling her mask down so she could breathe easier. She coughed up a lot of water before we got to shore, but she seemed alright. The rest of the class had crossed again and were coming over the help. "Everyone, step back." I kept them from circling.

"What kind of water user can't swim?" I heard someone whisper, which I knew was my fault, but it hurt Aurora more.

"Class dismissed…" I decided that was enough for today. I had to get Aurora to the hospital anyway, to make sure she hadn't swallowed too much water. There was gonna be paperwork and many apologies from me for this, but mostly guilt.

* * *

  
Aurora wasn't happy to have to change into the only extra outfit that still fit her. We needed to go clothes shopping, but the orange kimono Ino had given her actually fit her better now than it did two years ago. I now came to her knees and I didn't have to fold it up and wrap in around her waist once for it to fit her. She had paired it with white, knee high stockings and a newer pair of dark green shinobi sandals. She looked so cute, but she hated the color. The only other outfit she had was a pink kimono top with a deep blue and green obi, white shorts and purple knee high socks that matched the flowers on the kimono, but it was soaking wet. She also didn't have an extra mask, which make her feel exposed.

Sakura was on staff today and was the one to check her out. She cleared her, but wanted me to keep an eye on her if she started having any trouble breathing. She did however make the mistake of calling her a cute little pumpkin, due to her being in almost all orange. Aurora pouted, reminding me of a certain silver hair man, telling Sakura she hated being called that.

"Oh...sorry." The pinkette wasn't sure what to say.

"Maa...Aurora. Don't be rude."

"Kakashi?"

"Yo." He gave us an eye smile.

"You're…?" I was trying to get him to tell me if he was being released or not.

"Fit as a fiddle." He was being this way because Sakura was nearby. He still had yet to tell anyone about us. Konohamaru caught on, but no one really believed him. Aurora had said nothing, she just assumed everyone knew at this point and it was normal for her. "I'm off to train with Naruto."

"You just got out…" Sakura glared.

"Maa...I'll be fine. Aurora, you can join us on this one." He said, which earned a gleeful shout from her. "If she's ok?"

"She's fine…" I said, wondering what they could be doing that she could do. "Oh hey…" But it was too late to tell him about why we were here, they were long gone.

* * *

  
Kakashi's View:

"Alright, time to train." I told the two orange clan ninja infront of me. Naruto started laughing.

"What now?" I thought they might be joking around, but Aurora was just as confused.

"Nothing, it's just, training with you again. It makes me all happy." Naruto smiled, scratching the back of his neck.

"Well...laugh while you still can." I laughed, but they both gave me a sullen look. "Time isn't waiting for us after all. Like I said a few days ago, we're going to be training to make an ultimate jutsu of your own." Aurora had the power to do it as well, she just needed a push. "To do this, you'll need to acquire two techniques, change in chakra nature and in chakra form ."

Naruto tried to repeat me, only for Aurora to tease him for not being able to keep up.

"Exactly…" I stopped their spat. "For example...take Chidori. First, I change my chakra nature, like an electrical current."

"Like when I turn to water?" Aurora asked, at least she raised her hand first.

"Hm...similar, yes." I gave her an eye smile. She was getting it at least, Naruto just looked grumpily at her. Seems he was jealous of how smart she was. "Rasengan is different because it's a change in chakra form. The jutsu compresses chakra by spinning at violently high speeds." He was acting like he was getting this. "You'll need a chakra change to achieve a jutsu more powerful."

Aurora looked perplexed at how that was possible. Thing was, she was already doing it without knowing. Those ice spears and water bubbles she made were results of chakra element change and change of chakra form.

"But we don't have the time it takes to make a jutsu like that. That's why I said only you would be able to do this in such a short amount of time…"  
"What!? What's going to speed it up!" Naruto was eager.

"Well, I guess there's no reason to beat around the bush, the method is...your shadow clones." Aurora glared, but Naruto of course was confused.

"Huh?

"You're massive shadow clone jutsu."

"What about it?"

"That's the method..." I tried again but he wasn't getting it. "Alright, I'll explain it to you from now on...listen up." Aurora was, but he wasn't. "You know how shadow clones work? You're making a copy of a real body, not just a clone of yourself. I can't make as many as you can, but I know the effects of the clones. I'm sure you've noticed."

Aurora looked down, I knew she had yet to perfect it but I knew seeing Naruto's would push her to do it.

"Noticed what?" Naruto asked. _He really was dense…_

"When the jutsu is undone, the things the clones experiences are transferred to the user."

"You can remember what your clone saw?" Aurora asked.

"Bingo." I was glad that she was keeping up.

"I said make it simple…" Naruto complained to me, but understanding now that Aurora spelled it out. "How is that possible?"

"Alright, make a shadow clone." He did as I made one as well. "And have yours follow mine into the forest over there. Aurora, try your best to make one too." She did, the air getting colder but the clone was weak. She kept trying anyway.

"What are the clones doing?" Naruto asked, not paying any mind to Aurora and her cartoon clones.

"You'll find out." After a moment, the clones went away. "Now do you know?" By the look on his face he did.

"What?" Aurora asked. The clone she made was close, but the face was still very cartoon like.

"I won at rock, paper, scissors!" Naruto grinned, Aurora tilting her head in question. "So...what does that have to do with cutting time on training?"

After choosing to explain it slowly to the blonde, just to see him get all riled up, I revealed that if he used one thousand clones, he'd cut his time down by one one thousandth of the real time needed. Each clone would gain experience, then that experience would be gained by the user. Aurora was excited too, wanting to learn the shadow clone jutsu even more.

"Now I see why you're so strong!" Naruto grinned. "You train with this jutsu!"

"Nope." This shocked him. "I don't have as much chakra as you and can't hold it as long."

"Wait..I have more chakra than you, Kakashi-sensei?"

"You have at least four times as much." This excited the boy, but irritated Aurora. I know it must have been frustrating to know your power was cut down by a seal, but so far I have found nothing on it. "If Yamato doesn't suppress the nine tails chakra, it might be one hundred times more…"

"That's why you're the only one who can do this, kid." Yamato came from the forest then, getting Aurora to question what was going on. She knew him as Tenzō.

"Yamato-taichou?!" Naruto had no idea about his real...er...old name.

"Kakashi asked me to help. You may need me to control the nail tails chakra after all."

* * *

  
Next step was explaining the different types of chakra. Aurora knew these, but Naruto somehow did not retain anything from the academy. How on earth he passed, I'll never really know.

"Five natures? That's it?" Naruto was surprised by this. I looked to Aurora to answer.

"Water, fire, earth, wind and lightning." She said, shying under the pressure. She was odd that way, loving to answer but shying when asked to do it.

"Right, those give use the basics."

"Normally everyone fits into one of those categories. For example, the Uchiha's had fire nature chakra." Yamato filled in to help Naruto get it.

"That means...Sasuke had fire and lightning." Naruto pieced together.

"Correct. Now, we need to know what yours is." I said pulling out pieces of chakra paper. I would give one to Aurora to, I wanted to know if hers was primarily water or wind. "If you are lightning, like me..." I said, crinkling the paper I help up using a bit of chakra. "Fire, it burns, water of course is wet, earth makes it crumble and wind cuts it in half. This is chakra paper, it'll react to your chakra nature." I gave one to Aurora, which instantly became wet. Naruto's split down the middle, signifying he was a wind user.

"Well, let's begin you wind manipulation training." Handy, they both used wind and could both benefit from this training. The reason Aurora was here in the first place wasn't just for her protection, it was to show her her ice powers were not the only powers she had. She'd need them even more, now that Danzō was after her again. We just got lucky with Sai, but our luck would run out sooner than later.

I told Naruto how useful his chakra nature was, making sure Aurora knew she could do it too.

"Wait...if her's is water, why can she do ice? And..what kind of chakra allows Yamato-taichou to use wood style?" I turned and whispered to Yamato.

"Show him the two other natures you have." I told him, which he gladly showed off. He made the ground under him and near us rise up, high enough so he could then use his water nature to make a waterfall.

"A...a waterfall? Yamato-taichou had two chakra natures too?!" This seemed to shock him.

"Those in the Joinin class usually have at least two. I can also control elements other than lightning."

"So...Aurora has water and...?"

"Wind."

"So that means she and Yamato-taichou have three then, with ice and wood."

"Well, that isn't it."

Aurora laughed, she got it. "It's because of a Kekkei Genkai, right?"

"Huh?!"

"Since there isn't an element for wood, or ice, you must use the other two together." Yamato explained. "Earth in the right hand and water in the left…it's not easy to use both at the same time."

"The ability to use both and combine them into a new element, is a kekkei genkai, like Aurora said. Just like the boy, Haku, as well." He pieced this all together, finally getting it.

"That's why even my eye can't copy it, anyway, we should get to the training."

"Wait, what about the sharingan? Medical jutsu? Or even genjutsu?!"

"Hm...that might take a while to explain and confuse you…"

"Let's talk about Yin and Yang another time, Kakashi-senpai?"

* * *

  
Naruto made as many clones as there were leaves on one tree, each clone taking one leaf. Aurora was impressed, never having seen him do it before. She was eager to try again and actually managed a pretty good clone after the tenth try. The one thing that was good about the seal is that, even if it cut three fourths out, it still used it as a reserve. She wouldn't run out of chakra for a while, but none of her jutsus were very powerful.

Aurora sat by me after a while, trying to figure out why I was reading my book again. I blocked her for reading it, but she did manage to get out of being pinned by my legs.

"Father…" She struggled free, upset I wouldn't let her read too. "Fine...how come we have to call Tenzō-san Yamato?"

"Ah...you see, in ANBU you have a different name than you do elsewhere. So, from now on, he'll be called Yamato" I explained, she finally stopped trying to read and sat by me. "Did you make a perfect clone yet?" She shrugged, but the noise above me in the tree notified me that yes, she had and it was dive bombing me. I quickly switched with a log, making her clone dispel when she hit it instead of me.

"Ow!" She pouted at being duped and feeling what her clone had felt.

"Nice try…" I said from behind her. "But you're not reading these until you're much older." She stuck her tongue out at me playfully, accepting the challenge of getting the book.

"Father?" She got serious again, gaining my full attention. "Can you teach me to swim?"

"Hm?" Did I neglect that training? Wait.. "What prompted this?"

"I fell in the river during class...dad had to save me."

"That's why you were at the hospital…" I should have asked Iruka, but I still wasn't sure how people would react to our relationship...it wasn't hidden, sure, but there were some who looked down on two men together.

"Yeah...I'm ok, but I need to learn to swim…" She was right about that. And Yamato gave us the perfect area to do that, the small lake under the falls was perfect for swimming lessons.

"Well...alright." I snapped the book shut. "Let's go."

She could swim in her underwear for today, seeing as we didn't have swimsuits. She was quick to skip to the edge of the water, getting undressed.

"Gonna leave me here, huh?" Yamato joked.

"I won't be too far…" He was set up near the water anyway.

* * *

  
Aurora was a quick learner, taking to the water like a fish. After an hour, she could swim without me being there to help her float. I stayed near, knowing she could go under at any time, even if the water only came to my waist, it was deep enough for her to drowned.

"Maa, good job, caterpillar." I was able to keep my masked tank top on without getting it too wet to breathe though. "See, you hardly needed me." But I was glad she did still need me for some things. She quickly swam back to me, grabbing my arms as she started to get tired. "Maa, my little fishy." I teased her, pressing her nose to mine.

"Kakashi-sensei!" I heard Naruto call. I looked up to see him watching us. "W...what are you doing?!" I realised from his angle, Aurora looked like she wasn't wearing anything. She still had a white tank top on and her bunny underwear on. I held her up for him to see it wasn't what he thought.

"Swimming." I smiled, seeing the grossed out look on his face. Honestly, what was he thinking?

* * *

  
I had Aurora dry off by laying in the grass in the sun. She stayed there while I went to talk to Tenzō.

"How is it, Tenzō? Having any problems with the Kyuubi?"

"Everything is fine. But, please, for now, call me Yamato…" I only wanted to tease him, not piss him off. I heard Naruto's clones getting excited that one had made a deeper cut in a leaf.

"There's something I want to ask, Kakashi-sensei." The real one, I think, came up to me after the rest of the clones were getting angry. "Is there anyone else in the village that uses wind?"

"You want tips?" Of course he did. "Hmm...there is someone, but he's playing Shogi around this time.."

"Asuma?! Alright!" He ran off to join the clones, sending one off towards the village.

 _Ah, finally using it to your advantage._ After a few minutes, the clones all cheered that they got it. _Guess he's done talking already._

"Alright, this is a good time to gather all of your shadow clones experiences. Let them disappear and reflect on the training." He did, allowing Yamato to relax.

"I can do it, just a little...further…" I leapt up and caught Naruto before he fell over from exhaustion.

"And this is the draw back…" I told the unconscious boy.

* * *

  
Only a few hours ago, Naruto was focusing on leaves, but now he had moved on to cutting a waterfall. Of course he complained that it was too small, forcing poor Yamato to make it bigger and the platform longer for more clones.

"That was tough on you, huh?" I asked him, knowing it was.

"No...I-I'm fine, it was nothing." He was panting so hard I could hardly make out what he said. The better be enough for him, I don't think Yamato could do it again.

Aurora was concerned for him, she sat next to him to make sure he was okay. "T-Thanks kiddo."

* * *

  
After convincing Naruto he could continue in the morning, Aurora and I laid on the blanket we were using as a mattress. It was her first time camping out like this, so she didn't have her own blanket to lay on. She did have a blanket to cover with though, but she wasn't tired just yet. I figured it had to do with her not using all of her chakra this time. Yamato was out, having used a lot of chakra and I think Naruto was finally out too.

"Father, what makes stars?" She asked softly.

"Maa...well, a long, long time again the universe started with a Big Bang. The stars and planets were formed then. Each star is sort of like the sun..." Science wasn't really my thing, but I had listened Iruka's lecture to his class about it before. She was quiet, still looking up at the stars. I thought she fell asleep for a second, but she was awake. "Something wrong?"

"I was thinking about the seal again…" she admitted , not really having been curious at what made stars. "Do you think without it I could make that many clones?"

"I'm afraid not." I chose to just be honest with her. "You have more chakra than most people, that's true, but Naruto is different. It's because of the Kyuubi inside of him that he is able to have this much chakra. Not all of it is his, but a small bleed through of the Kyuubi's."

"Oh." I don't think she had made that connection till just now. "So...are there more people like Naruto?"

"Yes, Gaara was one once." I heard movement, looking over the where Naruto was. The blonde was back up and getting undressed again. He just won't settle will he…


	26. Chapter 26

Kakashi's View:

Naruto trained throughout the night, forcing Yamato and I to watch him closely. Aurora stayed up as long as she could, but being so young she didn't last more than an hour after her normal bed time. This left me plenty of time to read my book in peace. I saw Yamato glance over my shoulder one or twice to read with me, but every time he would blush and look away. _I'm not even at a good part..._ I guess some people didn't appreciate it.

Around dawn, Naruto and his clones cheered loudly as he cut the waterfall in half. This startled the sleeping form nearby and woke her up. At least she was over the phase where she would cry from being startled.

"I have to admit, this method is quite impressive." The wood style user said, looking overly tired from chakra depletion.

"No, it's not just the training method, his driving force is Sasuke." We watched the blonde beam for a moment before everything finally caught up to him. Using that many clones and training for full day and night did a number on him, making him collapse as his clones dispelled. I jumped up to him to make sure he was alright.

"Hu-hunrgy...so...so hungry…" Naruto was mumbling. I sighed. He really was something.

* * *

  
The four of us headed back into the village, deciding to treat our rembusious students to ramen. Naruto was thrilled, but too tired to really cheer, he even laid his head on the counter at Ichiraku. I noticed Ayame-san wasn't there, asking Teuchi where she was. He said she was on some trip about learning cooking styles. She usually knew what the boy wanted the moment he entered, so the new guys he had there were going to take a minute. I heard Naruto mumble his order, hoping they caught it.

Teuchi of course had it mostly prepared when he heard Naruto outside. However, as soon as the bowl was set, Teuchi took it away, wacking the new guy. He let his finger touch the food I guess. _This will take a while…_

The second guy slipped, burning the other, making the normally calm shop owner yell.

"Come now, Teuchi, I'm sure it happens a lot." Aurora had moved closer to me, scared at how the older man reacted.

"That's the problem!" _Well...I tried…_ poor Naruto would have to hold on just a bit longer. I watched Aurora poke his cheek to see if he was ok, the only thing he was saying was ramen and he looked very out of it. He'd be alright, just tired.

Finally, we got our ramen and Naruto was on a second bowl. Aurora was fascinated with how fast he could eat, trying to copy him. She was only half way through her first though. I noticed Tenzō wasn't as happy with the food choice, he wasn't a huge fan of ramen, but this was all for Naruto after all.

"Alright! I'm ready to get back to work!" Naruto cheered, surprising me that he only had two bowls.

"Easy now, I have something to show you first…" I kept my voice low so my kohai didn't overhear. This got the two youngsters attention. "I'm going to show you two something interesting." Though Aurora was already pretty good at this.

"What? What?! I wanna know." I made Naruto quiet down.

"Let's just say I have things to explain..."

"Aw, enough lectures already…" The blonde complained.

"No point in arguing, Naruto. I can sweet talk anyone…" How else would I have been able to rope Iruka into watching Aurora all those years ago, and then later to date me. But Naruto still had yet to catch on to any of that.

"What do you mean?" Aurora asked, having no idea how often I used this on her too.

"Watch." I said, getting up and motion them to get up with me. "Well then, thanks for lunch, Yamato."

"Huh?! I thought senpai's were supposed to pay for meals?" He tried, watching him panic for a moment.

"In my eyes, senpai and kohai mean nothing when it comes to mutual respect. Besides...you're probably my only kohai I acknowledge as an equal." I added the eye smile, knowing I had him. "But, you're right, I really ought to..."

"No, no! I got it!" Yamato eagerly stepped in as I reached for my wallet, getting his own out quickly. Naruto was impressed, laughing softly. Aurora however caught on, figuring out I had done that to her before. Knowing her, she'd rat on me later but I could take it. Yamato was easy to sway, at least when it came to me.

* * *

  
After lunch, we went back out to the training field. Aurora was supposed to be in school, but I "took her out of class for a family trip." Iruka scolded me, making a point to hit me over the head with a ruler when my clone showed up at the school. He was even more pissed by the fact I'd sent a clone and not told him in person. He would be over tonight for sure…

"So, what were you going to show me?" Naruto was ready to go again, but he needed to understand everything up till this point.

"Now, hold on. Everything has an order to it. First, let's review." This annoyed my orange clad students, but it was necessary. "Do you remember what we talked about in the beginning of this training?"

"Do I! I remember...it's…" Naruto started, but obviously forgot.

"Chakra nature and changing its form." Aurora answered, tilting her head as if she was unsure. She didn't forget of course, but she still only had a very basic grasp on it.

"That's right." I smiled at her. "Let's just pretend you forgot, for Naruto." That got a glare from him. "You remember chakra nature of course. The other is chakra form, the shape of one chakra." I re-explained what it was and used my Chidori as an example again.

"Listen closely." Yamato's tone was harsher, hoping to drill it in to his dense head. "By adding a change in form and a nature change, your attack can be exponentially stronger. Shinobi that can do both are uncommon. Our exercises helped you master wind, and you already have a chakra form attack." Suddenly it all clicked for the boy.

"My rasengan…" He grinned after it all came together. "Does that mean I can do both?!"

"Basically, yes." but he was too excited, going off and saying he'd be making new jutsu like crazy. This made Yamato and I give him a stern look, but he was oblivious.

"I'm not sure that's how it works." The redhead spoke, catching on to the look on Yamato's face.

"Heh...well...she's right. If that were the case, I would not have had to invent the chidori." This made Naruto stop. "This is the interesting thing I wanted to show you…" I held out my hand, forming a perfect rasengan in one go.

"Cool!" Aurora cheered, but Naruto was in dismay.

"Y-you can do it too, Kakashi-sensei...I didn't know that."

"Yeah, but this is it. I can't combine my lightning chakra into it. It takes incredible skill to change nature chakra into a form...or natural intuition." In Aurora's case, it was her clan abilities. "I'm not the only one to fail at it. My teacher failed to do it too." Naruto knew who my teacher had been, but Aurora did not. "That's right, Naruto, even the Fourth Hokage couldn't do it."

"But...you said he was the strongest shinobi you met, right?" Aurora asked.

"He was very strong, but he could master nature chakra and form it. He did however master forming chakra, creating the rasengan. I can only manage to copy it." Even for me it wasn't easy, I wondered if one day Aurora could do it.

* * *

  
After telling Naruto that from here on out, he had to figure it out himself, he got back to it. He was the only one that could surpass the Fourth Hokage, telling him this made his drive go back up.

"You really are a sweet talker…" Yamato chided me.

"Nah…" I teased him. "Just a believer."

Aurora even took to trying again, making water bubbles from the water around the waterfall. Interestingly enough, she was able to make one of the bubbles form into an abstract elephant. It didn't last long and popped, making the others do the same. She had no control over it, but it was still quite a feat for her. And honestly it was more interesting than watching all of the Naruto clones try and try again. Sure, it was impressive too, but Naruto wasn't a cute five year old playing with bubbles.

"I can do this!" The shout Naruto gave snapped me back to him, he was determined to do this. Unfortunately, it was too much for him and a clone started turing into the ninetails.

"Tenzō!" I shouted, forgetting his new name for a second. Aurora ran back to us, scared by the sudden burst of chakra.

"I got it!" He focused as the fourth tail appeared. The wooden wolf heads he made rushed at the clone, suppressing the chakra. "I'm not sure how much changing Naruto can take...let alone how often I can suppress him."

"This is the only way...whether Naruto can do this or not depends on you, my friend." This put more pressure on my kohai, but with my help he could do it. All of Naruto's clones burst, disappearing on us and leaving an unconscious Naruto behind.

"Yes sir…" Yamato sighed, knowing it was true. Naruto couldn't risk using the ninetails chakra, but the only way to stop it was the wood style jutsus.

* * *

  
Aurora got bored watching Naruto train, even though she was interested in the jutsu he was doing. She was done with making bubbles and couldn't make ice right now, unless we wanted to interrupt Naruto's training. When she was bored, she started asking questions. Of those questions, it came to where Yamato had come from. She was aware everyone had parents, but Yamato couldn't really tell her.

"Er...well…" He was still focused on Naruto, but he was listening to her. I watched, wondering what he was going to say. "I don't know my parents. They died a long time ago." She wasn't convinced that was all there was.

"Where did they come from?" She meant, what village did they come from.

"Hm...Konoha I think." He couldn't remember that far back. He lost all memories from before he was seven, if I remembered correctly. "Heh...sweetie, I'm more than happy to answer these, but right now I gotta focus. I promise to tell me more later, eh?" I saw him starting to sweat under the pressure. She pouted, but understood. He really did care about her and wanted to make sure she had his full attention if she was talking.

"Ok." She said softly, coming back over to me. This made her question me some more, but she knew what had happened to my parents. "What was you dad like?" She looked up at me, hopeful I would tell her. I didn't want to, not here.

"Well...he...um…" I remembered him being very kind and loving. "He...loved me." I had learned that with my time with Aurora. It wasn't obvious all the time, but I loved her and knew he had held the same love for me. It hurt even more that he had left me, knowing he loved me. "And...I know he was a very strong shinobi. He was known as The White Fang of Konoha." She'd heard of him, but the stories at school were nothing like him. They told of his glory, but he didn't like the attention it brought him. I remember him telling a group of fans that it was no big deal, but they were stars truck into thinking he was the greatest.

"Was he like you?"

"No." I answered harshly, which had her scared. I didn't mean to, but the pain...he had left a hole I had yet to come to terms with. The look she had made me wonder, does she look up to me in that way too?

"How did you meet daddy?" Well, that was a big jump in topics.

"Well, I met him on a mission a while back." I can't remember if it was his first mission as a chunin or not, I'd have to ask again. "He...got injured, and I think not long after he became a teacher." I remembered talking to him about Naruto as well, convincing him to give the boy a chance. "After that, I found you." It was around that time anyway…

"Daddy was there?"

"Eh, no. I...was on a different mission." ANBU stuff was a hard thing to explain to her right now. She hadn't understood that Tenzō and I had been on a team once, not liking the fact that I used to wear a mask like him. "I asked him later if he would watch you. And...that's how it came to be." Somewhere along the line we had become dependent on each other, falling madly in love so to speak, but I doubt she'd understand the concept of love.

She wanted to ask more, but distant thunder had her clutching my arm. She hated thunderstorms, stemming back to the day I found her. I knelt down, taking her into my arms to comfort her.

"Maa...you're safe." I said as the first few drops fell. "How about this, try catching as many raindrops as you can." It was an old game we played when she was two during a lighter storm. She had been able to stop some drops mid air, stopping only five at a time then. Now, I'm sure she could do at least twenty. More thunder sounded, making her hold tighter. "I'm sure you can do it. Make you a deal, if you can catch twenty, I'll get you a new toy." She had unfortunately broken her wooden doll Tenzō had made her, which upset her. I'm sure I could convince him to either fix it or make her a new one. I had brought it with me...not for that reason but hey, it worked.

She sighed, knowing I was sweet-talking her into it. She didn't leave my side though, still unconvinced the thunder wouldn't get her. As it rained harder, she was able to catch more, but only got up to twelve at a time. At least it distracted her from the thunder and from Naruto changing again.

"Captain Yamato! Help!" I heard him call, making Aurora drop the rain she had collected and hold onto me again.

"Hold on, Naruto!" Tenzō was working on it, but the change was happening faster than before. The other clones and the real one tried to hold it back before the changed one was sealed. They all poofed away, showing the real Naruto had been hit by the kyuubi form. I jumped to his side, leaving Aurora to bug Yamato. "Are you alright?" But the blonde was fine, just pouting.

"It's only been a day since we started adding a nature change, with over two hundred clones each time. If we do the math that's…" I thought for a moment. "Forty eight hundred hours. It's still not enough to master it…" It was going to take time, he just didn't want to wait.

"Kakashi-sensei...this drill is so hard, I can only hold two hundred clones at a time." Show off… "I feel...no matter how long it takes, there will never be enough time in the world to do this."

"Since when do you whine about ninjutsu? Are you really Naruto Uzumaki?" He couldn't give up now...he was so close.

"But...I think this time it really is impossible." He looked miserable, but he gave up too soon. If he didn't get it instantly, he sometimes wouldn't keep at it.  
"You have to keep going." I urged.

"Sensei...what it someone asked you to look right and left at the same time?" I blinked at his question.

"Ah...I see…" Tenzō gave me a look, Aurora behind him catching rain drops again. "This certainly is a difficult task…" I said making the signs for a shadow clone. "Here is how you can look right."

"While looking left." my clone finished. "Still think it's impossible?" This made a light click in him again, but I had no idea what it was about. I got distracted when Aurora cheered. Naruto looked over too, to see she had stopped the rain around her, like a small protective dome. However, it lasted only two seconds before she grabbed her arm, falling to her knees.

"Aurora!" Naruto called out, but I made it to her side before him. "What's going on?" He didn't know about Danzō yet.

"Right...you were off training. Danzō, you might know of him. He worked for the underground of Konoha. I'm not sure why, but he put a seal on her arm a few years ago."

"Can't you take it off?!" Naruto was angry it had happened to her.

"If I could, it wouldn't still be there…" I explained what Tsunade and I had done, but it still hadn't stopped it completely. If she pushed too hard, it would activate. "The only thing we can do is try to get a hold of Danzō."

"I'll force it out of him if I have to!" Naruto growled. "If I have to, I'll use this new jutsu to make him!" This made Naruto run off again to work on it.

* * *

  
Naruto used his clones to help him add in the chakra nature change. It was quite impressive.

"You really are something else, Naruto. I think...I'm finally starting to like you." I admitted, which freaked the boy out. He lost control, blowing himself and the clones to the ground.

"D-don't say weird shit like that! It's creepy…" I had no idea what he meant, I just meant I finally figured out why Iruka loved him so much.

"No, wait, that's not what I meant…"

"Eh, forget it…" He was about to start back up when another shinobi appeared with a report. Yamato listened, but I was watching Aurora's reaction. I saw tears form in her eyes, knowing the news was bad.

"Kakashi-senpei! We need to return to the village now!" Yamato looked serious.

"Aw what?! What happened?" Naruto calmed down after seeing their looks. Aurora ran to me, crying as she came to me. I picked her up, trying to calm her down, but she wouldn't.

"Yamato, what is it?"

"Asuma...has been killed." Now I see...I felt something inside break. Asuma was a good friend of mine, and now...he was just gone. My thoughts went to Kurenai, then it clicked. _He wanted to tell me...she's pregnant._

* * *

  
The funeral for him was held the next day. The shock of his loss was felt throughout the village. Naruto stood with Konohamaru, comforting the boy as he mourned the loss of his uncle. Iruka was standing towards the back with Aurora, she was too upset to stay with me near the headstone. I watched as Kurenai placed place lilies on his grave. I noted, Shikamaru wasn't here, but I knew he was hurt the most by it. He had been there...he had seen everything happen. I knew how it felt to watch helplessly as your sensei fought the enemy…

* * *

  
I sat on the back porch that night with Aurora, watching the fireflies in the yard. She was quiet, still in shock as she sat in my lap. So was I. Iruka stayed over and was inside making tea, leaving us to talk about what happened.

"What happens when we die?" She asked after a while, still watching the glowing bugs.

"I'm...not sure. I think we see our loved ones again." That's what I was told by my father. It seemed to be a suitable answer, no one really knew for sure.

I let my mind drift back to Shikamaru. Knowing what happened now, I expected he might retaliate. I know I would have wanted revenge...no, I kind of did even now. I knew nothing came of it, I knew the dark path all too well. I decided then, that if he tried, I would follow. Someone had to keep Team Ten from being reckless now. I choose for that to fall onto me.

* * *

  
While Iruka was tucking Aurora in for the night, I went to pack for the mission I assigned myself.

"I thought you had this week off?" Iruka caught me, standing in the doorway.

"I do, but Asuma's team might make a reckless move…" I told him, hoping he'd understand. I felt him approach and the warmth of his arms as he held me tightly from behind.

"You'll keep them for doing that, but will you be ok?" He knew I was hurting too.

""I'll...be alright." I was focused on helping Team Ten stay alive, which kept me from spiraling at the moment. When I got back though...I might be broken.

"When are you leaving?"

"I'll say goodbye to Aurora in the morning. I'm sure they'll try to leave by dawn, but I don't think they'll get far unnoticed." Tsunade had someone watching Shikamaru, so there was no doubt she'd be there before any of us if he tried anything.

"Promise me, you will come back…"

"Maa…" I turned around, holding him closely. "Don't worry, I promise…" but he knew as well as I did that there was no way to promise it. This was the Akatsuki, the two members who had taken out Asuma were not to be taken lightly...


	27. Chapter 27

Aurora's View:

Father was off on another mission, but I didn't want him to go. I knew he was after whoever killed Asuma-Oji, I didn't have a good feeling about it. I tried to tell dad, but he just said everything would be ok.

Dad didn't get it. At least I didn't think he did.

"When will father come home?" I asked him as we made dinner. I'd asked him yesterday but he never answered.

"I don't know." He sounded very tired, I couldn't blame him since our class today was really wild. Didn't they understand that someone very important died?

"Why did he go?" He wasn't assigned to it.

"I think he wanted to make sure Shikamaru and his team weren't hurt." He finally turned to look at me from the stove. "I know you're worried, but you forget who your father is." He ruffled my hair, making me frown.

"He's still just a person…" father could still die.

"I know. But, he's still very strong and smart. He won't do anything that doesn't need to be done. He'll be ok." Dad tried to assure me, but I still had a bad feeling about it all. "You wanna cut the carrots?" He never let me do that before!

"Really?" He told me the knife was too sharp before. He nodded, letting me stand on a stool near the counter and showed me how to do it. He was faster at it than me, but I got the hang of it at least.

* * *

  
Father still wasn't home the next day and the kids at school were still acting as if nothing happened, they weren't in mourning clothes anymore. I still was.

Sensei was leaving me alone for the most part, letting me look out the window. The lecture was on different chakra natures, but father had taught me and Naruto the other day. They only thing new was which one was stronger than another. Fire of course was weak to water, but was stronger than wind. I just didn't care to pay too much attention, but I understand what it all was. I sighed softly, still feeling like something was wrong.

That's when I felt someone tug on my ponytail, and a sudden snipping sound had me bolting out of my seat. It was too late. Midori was behind me today and had decided that my ponytail should be cut. I felt my hair, but she was holding the long ponytail I had by the tie. She'd cut just under it.

"Midori!" I heard Iruka shout. "What have you done!?" He was pissed. I was pissed.

"At least she's paying attention now."

"Out in the hall, now!" The whole class was silent, scared of Iruka-sensei. He was scary when he was mad, but even scarier when you were the reason he was mad. He told our class representative to watch the class, taking Midori out of class.

I looked at my reflection in the window, seeing how bad it was. It was choppy, the right side was shorter, my bangs on the left weren't cut so they hung loosely past my chin. The rest was short, the longest strands were only past my ears. I felt tears burning my eyes, upset with everything.

"Auro-Chan…" I saw Yuri come up behind me in the glass. "Are you ok?" She wanted to hug me, but knew I hated impromptu hugs. I shook my head, letting her hug me while I cried on her shoulder. "I'm sorry...Midori is just mean." She said.

"She's nothing but a bully!" I heard another girl shouted.

"Can I help with your hair?" I looked up and saw Sora with a kunai. "I can at least make it even." I decided to let him, trying not to cry anymore. I was done getting picked on. From here on, no one would ever be allowed near me…

* * *

  
At home, dad sat me in the yard and trimmed my hair some more. Sora made it even, but it was still choppy. I watched as small tuffs flew in the breeze.

"There, that's better." He ruffled it, making tiny hairs fly around. He gave me a hand mirror, letting me see. It was very short, choppy but much better than before.

"I look like a boy…" I said sadly, noting that it was similar to father's hairstyle. If it were spiked, it was the same style.

"No, you look cute." Dad tried, putting a purple clip in it. "You're beautiful, no matter what your hair looks like." He smiled, pulling me into his lap. I laid my head on his chest, I felt miserable.

* * *

  
Kakashi's View:

It was late when I got back, I promised my team ramen tomorrow, being too tired to do anything right now. The second I opened the door, I had a little red head tackle me, almost forcing back out the door.

"Father!" She was happy, but why was she waiting by the door?

"You're back." Iruka was coming from the kitchen, in my apron. It was really adorable how comfortable he was here. "You look rough." I know I did, but at least my mask had stayed intact.

"Maa...tough mission was all." I'd tell him after Aurora went to bed. "Oh, I see we got a haircut." I knelt down, ruffling her hair and making it stick up a little.  
"Midori did it in class…"

"Oh?" Iruka looked sorry that it had happened in his class, but kids can be sneeky.

"Don't worry, Mirodi is being punished." Iruka sighed, more to me than to Aurora.

* * *

  
Aurora insisted that I be the one to tuck her in tonight, not letting me get changed first and having to explain why my shirt was all ripped up.

"The enemy had some powerful jutsus. He didn't get me, don't worry." She didn't need to know I nearly had my heart ripped out, twice.

"Were you scared?" She asked as she laid down.

"Yes, but Yamato and my team showed up just in time." I worried about what would have happened if they hadn't shown up. I did not want my heart to end up being used for some creeps jutsu…

I finally pacified her by telling her she could come with us tomorrow to ramen if she went to sleep. She agreed, allowing me to escape her questioning for now. I was going to be drilled by Iruka, I didn't want to be tired out by her questions and ignore him.

* * *

  
"How did it go?" Iruka was already dressed for bed, letting his hair down when I walked in. I didn't answer at first, choosing to walk closer to him as I took my shirt off. There were bruises around the area Kakuzu's strange tentacle had attacked me, wrapping around my heart. I took Iruka's hand, placing it over the odd dotted bruise as I pulled him closer. Iruka was silent, not understanding what I was doing.

"They tried to take it…" I whispered into his hair. I could still feel those strands pulling at my chest, trying to rip me open and take what was mine. "All I could think of was you…" It was true, all my mind could think of while the Akatsuki member pulled, was what he and Aurora would do if I died. They wouldn't know how much they meant to me...how I felt that my heart really didn't belong to me anymore, it belonged to them.

"Are you ok?" He was worried I was hurt. I was, but not physically.

"I am now…" I was home, where my real heart was.

* * *

  
The next day, as promised, I took my team to ramen. Aurora tagged along, happy to see Naruto again.

"What happened to your arm?" She asked, unaware of what had happened. I actually needed to talk to Naruto about that...he couldn't use that jutsu anymore, that is if he wanted to keep using jutsu.

"Oh this? Eh it's nothing." Naruto shrugged it off, making Sakura sigh.

"Hello again." Sai smiled at Aurora, making her back away. "I see, still scared of me. I understand." He smiled, but it felt fake.

"Maa, shall we?" I motioned for them to go in, knowing Aurora wanted to sit away from Sai. He did have an odd air to him, but he was trying to change. He was just...emotionally stunted.

* * *

  
After we got our food, I watched Naruto try and fail to eat with his left hand. I needed to tell him…

"Naruto, about that jutsu…"

"Don't worry Kakashi sensei, I know what my body can handle!" He grinned, but he didn't. It was damaging on a cellular level, he couldn't see it so he was unaware of the true damage. "Remember, I'm going to be Hokage! That's how good I am." Aurora made a face, knowing something was off. Sakura sighed at him, having heard that almost everyday since they were seven.

After they were done, Naruto got up to leave.

"Thanks for the food old man! Kakashi-sensei will pay this time."

"Hey, I never said…" but they were off. Oh well, I had been planning to anyway.

* * *

  
Once outside, I saw Konahamaru was back, but this time he had a clone with him.

"What's going on?" Sakura asked.

"Alright! Show me how you've been training." Naruto smirked and I had only a second to react, which was too late.

"You got it! Art of Onna no ko Doushi jutsu!" The clone and Konahamaru turned into busty, naked women that were...well...pressing together. _Oh for...come on..._

"Father...what is that?" I couldn't answer, too stunned and watching Sakura shout about how wrong it was. That was until the brat used a similar jutsu, only this time with two men.

"Oh...that's me and Sasuke-kun." Sai was disheartened, but I was mortified. Sakura now understood the appeal of the jutsu though. She tried to tell us she didn't like it, but there was no mistake that she had been excited about the man on man jutsu. This had me worry what she'd think about me and Iruka...

* * *

  
"Father...what were Konohamaru-kun's jutsus about?" She asked later. "Why were they naked?"

"Er…" I was glad my face was covered right now, she couldn't see how red my face was from embarrassment. "It's a distraction jutsu...it's similar to shadow clone jutsu, but with a transformation jutsu added in."

"But...why use it that way?" I couldn't explain it, it was just a thing guys and girls liked. I needed to redirect the conversation before she got seriously metally scarred for learning too much about what I liked. I'll admit, both jutsus were very distracting. I really needed to find Iruka and play out a few fantasies with him.

"Well, how would you do it?" I asked her.

"Not have them naked…" The mind of a five year old was cute, but she had no concept of what sex was yet. I prayed she wouldn't for a long time.

"Ah. Yes, speaking of clothing. Why don't we get you some new clothes?" This excited her, making her forget about the sexy jutsu for a while.

* * *

  
I was again confused about what people thought was acceptable for armor for little girls. I had to again get her a boys mesh armor, making sure I got two more in bigger sizes. She was having a growth spurt on me and had grown out of all of her clothing in less than a month. Then again, she hadn't really grown much in the last two years, so she was due for one. She really liked the kimono style tops and found one that reminded me of the one Rin wore when we were young. Aurora's was a dusty blue with white shuriken and black shorts underneath. She also chose a sleeveless white kimono shirt with a yellow obi. The mesh shirt sleeves showed, but she looked so cute. I also got her new shirts with masks, again getting extra sizes, just in case. The new shinobi style shoes she got were the standard navy blue. The girls styles all had a heel, so she was getting boys style, weather she liked it or not. Who thought it was a good idea to give kunoichi shoes heels obviously had no idea what we did out there.  
This time, she also got to choose weapon pouches and choose a set of white ones on a thin belt. It rested loosely on her waist on the outside of her clothes. She didn't get to choose a color for a kunai pouch.

We had to leave the store with her in her new white outfit, seeing as her old orange one was far too short anymore and only was worn to get here. She was very happy with her new clothes, feeling like a girl again. She had told me this when trying them on. Who said girls had to have long hair? What's wrong with our society?

* * *

  
"Maa, Iruka?" I asked him, lazily lying on the couch while he graded papers. I was watching him while pretending to read. Aurora was outside, playing with a bucket of water again, soaking her new clothes. Oh well, at least I knew how to get dirt off of clothing.

"Hm?" Though he didn't look up.

"I was thinking...why don't you move in?" That made him stop writing and look at me. He looked a little shocked. "I mean, you stay here all the time anyway. You don't have to just now." I offered.

"What brought this on?" He asked. "I-I mean…"

"The other night...I was thinking, I like coming home to you." I sat up, setting my book by his pile of papers. "And, well, I want to come home to you." Why was I so bad with words when it really counted?!

"I...like coming home to you too." He moved to sit by me on the couch. "Let me see what I can do about my apartment. I have it for the next year, but maybe I can get out of the contract." He blushed, scratching the scar on his nose.

"Is that a yes?" I teased him.

"It's a, "as soon as I can get out of my contract."" He teased back, no longer flustered by my antics.

"I can help with that."

"Do not threaten my landlord…" He warned me. "And, you want to stay here?" He asked, wanting to know if I intended to move as well. The house was pretty small now, with two adults and a growing girl, my one and a half room condo was getting tight.

"Well...I guess we could move. My father's old place is still in my name…" But it hadn't been lived in for a while. I had no idea what condition it was in. I also wasn't sure I could go back.

"If you want to go there, then yes." He made me look at him again. "We don't have to, I was just asking." I smiled, silently thanking him for not saying yes all at once.  
"I'll...check on it. See if it's still standing."

* * *

  
I went the next day, while they were at school. I didn't want to bring them here just yet. I had lied, of course it was still standing. I had maintained it, a little, but the yard was overgrown now. I cut a path to the door, the weeds have grown over the path to the house. My hand was shaking as I got out the key, I hadn't been in since I left at fourteen. The memories were too painful then, I just hoped I could get through it now. I sighed, pushing the door open, disturbing the dust across the floor.

"Just as I left it…" It looked like it had all those years ago. The bed roll I had moved from my old room still sat in the corner by the small couch, the kitchen was ready for when I came home to make dinner. If it weren't for the layer of dust, you'd think someone had just left that morning. My shoes left prints as I stepped further in, leaving a trail to show where I went. I checked my old room, which was completely empty now. It would be perfect for Aurora, much bigger than her closet of a room. I pictured what it could look like, but a piece of me knew that in order to do that, Iruka and I would have to take my father's old room. I swallowed hard, forcing myself to go down the hall.

I slid the double door open, holding my breath for a second. I let it out slowly, trying to calm my anxiety. The bed was still made, nothing in this room had been touched since he died. I couldn't bring myself to come in before. I walked in, noting that all of the pictures in this room had been disturbed. I vaguely remember coming in once after a night of drinking years ago, wanting to remember what he looked like. _I guess I have been in here…_

I picked one up, wiping the dust off to revealing it was of us. I was on his back, smiling while he carried me. I was maybe three in the picture. My heart felt like it was shattering all over again. I found a box in his closet, taking all of the photos in here and putting them away. I guess the pain was still deeply embedded in me. I put the box on a top shelf in the closet, choosing not to take them home just yet. Aurora would find them...I couldn't deal with her questions just yet.

I decided that if we were going to live here, everything here needed replaced by our current things. Nothing here had good memories. I made two clones and we got to work, sealing everything away in a large scroll to take away. The house was empty in an hour, everything had left an outline in the dust.

"Maa...looks like I'll need to clean to…" I sighed, making the clones disappear. It would be a job for tomorrow, I had to get rid of the old furniture now, before I let it hurt me.


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter and chapter 7 of The Dove and The Crow coincide with one another. Enjoy

Kakashi's View:

After a day of rest, my team was already chomping at the bit to get out there again. Tsunade had a meeting with us to discuss the next move, to my surprise they were there before me. I thought I'd beat them, even with my stop to pick up Kurenai's team. Naruto wanted to find Itachi now to lure Sasuke back home. I don't think he realized who we were up against.

"Unfortunately, it's not going to be that easy. Remember our previous encounters, it was either too dangerous or not an option." I stood in the doorway, watching Naruto and Sakura's shocked expressions.

"Then what should we do!?" The blonde shouted.

"All we can do is do our best to find Itachi." It didn't calm him much.

"You wanna use Itachi to find Sasuke. Let's just say you find him, what then?" Jariya came through the window. It was what I was trying to get to, but he beat me to it.  
We discussed the plan, having two teams gathered for this mission. Yamato would take over as captain of my team again while I took over as Team Eight's captain. We would leave the next morning, our main goal was to find Sasuke, but if we ran into Itachi first, we would capture him.

* * *

  
Aurora had lots of questions that night about what the new mission was about. She wondered who Itachi was and wanted to know why Sasuke hadn't come home yet.

"It's...complicated." I told her as I finished packing. "Have you learned about the Uchiha clan in class yet?" Iruka shook his head.

"We haven't gotten to that point yet." He answered.

"Ah, well, where to begin." I sat her on the bed with us, knowing this was going to take a while to explain. "Itachi and Sasuke were the sons of Fugaku Uchiha, the head of the clan. Itachi was a prodigy, making him the pride of the clan. He was one of the best ninja I have ever seen, but there was a darkness growing within the clan. I don't know all of the details, but Itachi snapped and slaughtered his clan. He spared Sasuke, telling him he was too weak for him to have bothered with." I never figured out why the mild mannered boy had done it. He never came off as a mad man, almost seeming to hate killing.

"But...why?" She asked, not understanding why someone would kill their family.

"No one really knows." Itachi was the only one that knew that answer. She couldn't comprehend the thought and stayed in a shocked state the rest of the night. I regretted telling her everything.

* * *

  
Aurora's View:

After father and dad tucked me in, I got up and looked out the window. The stars had always been calming to me. I wondered if Sasuke was looking at the same ones, making him calm too.

I couldn't imagine what he saw, to be betrayed by someone you counted on...it must hurt. I felt a sudden drop in my stomach, realizing he had kind of done that to me and his friends. I guess revenge made you do things you wouldn't normally do. Father explained why Sasuke was after his brother, wanting to kill Itachi for what happened. Still, he shouldn't have left like that.

I could remember Sasuke, but I couldn't remember everything. I remember when father was teaching him chidori, he played with me on their breaks. He carried me home on his back after training, I remember I was tired and didn't want father to carry me. Sasuke-nii offered to carry me, which I had been excited about. The one thing that stood out the most was when he had smiled at me, telling me I did a good job. I just don't remember what I did. I felt sad again, knowing I might never see him again.

"Sasuke-nii…" I whispered to the stars. "Please come home…" I know it was stupid, but I wished he could hear me.

* * *

  
Iruka's View:

I had gotten up to get water, but stopped at the top of the stairs when I heard Aurora talking. I snuck up to her door and opened it just a crack to over hear her talking to the stars. It broke my heart, hearing her want Sasuke back. Sure, she had Naruto and the others but she hadn't connected to them like she had to the Uchiha.

I watched her tuck herself back in before going back to our room. Kakashi was out, snoring softly and unaware I had left. I wondered if he still felt guilty for Sasuke leaving, I know he had for a while afterwards. I tried to assure him it hadn't been his fault, but Kakashi took those kind of things pretty hard. Sure, it had been shocking one of my old students had left, but I know it wasn't any of our faults. Sasuke had been swept up in his need for revenge.

"You know, it's rude to stare…" I jumped, nearly falling off the bed when the silver haired ninja spoke. "I can hear your mind whirling…" he rolled over to look up at me, reaching out to cup my face. "Something wrong?"

" Err...no, just thinking." I scratched my scar as he sat up to bury his face in my hair. He had an obsession with it, but never told me why. "I heard Aurora making a wish on a star."

"The one about Sasuke coming home? She'd asked them once before when she was two, but she might not remember doing it." I nodded, feeling him pull me into a loose hug.

"You...don't blame yourself still, right?" He stiffened a little, letting me know subconsciously he did.

"He chose his path...but I thought he would stay after he saw her reaction." He admitted. "He had been so shocked by how upset his actions made her...I thought if he knew he wasn't alone or unloved, he might stay. But then Orochimaru's men had to show up…"

"They waited until you left." I fit the pieces together for other stories he had told me.

"If I had just stayed...made him come home with us instead of leaving him." I stroked the back of his neck, knowing it soothed him.

"You can't blame yourself for that." But he was stuck on the what if's. I listened, having heard him ask himself these questions when he thought he was alone. If Sasuke had stayed over, he might have stayed, but it could have pushed him away further as well.

"Maybe he'll finally come home this time." Kakashi was hopeful, but I heard some doubt in his voice. Sasuke was well known to be stubborn.

* * *

  
Thankfully it wasn't a school day, the weather had turned and a thunderstorm had settled over us. Kakashi had left earlier this morning, leaving me to deal with our terrified daughter. The storm got worse as the day went on, lightning now flashed in the sky and the thunder shook the windows.

"Sweetheart, it's alright." She was under our bed, hiding from the noise.

"No!" She cried, frozen in fear. A flash lit up the room, which had her flying out from under the bed and into my arms. She buried her face into my chest, saying something about someone coming for her.

"No one is coming after you." I tried to calm her, but she wasn't convinced. I was trying to come up with a way to distract her from the storm. So far, nothing worked.

"Daddy, I'm scared…" she still had her face hidden, the thunder decided then to shake the house, making her cry out again. Kakashi had a trick, but I wasn't able to do it. He would have her make little ice partials and lit them up with a lightning jutsu.

"Do you remember what your father does when your scared? I want you to make little ice squares for me, ok?" She looked up finally, giving me a look like I had gone crazy. "I know, it's not the same, but trust me." I stroked her hair, assuring her it was ok. I felt the air cool down as I got up and turned the light off. I heard her gasp in fear, but I was quick to get back to her and sat her in my lap.

The little pink ice pieces lit up when lightning flashed, lighting the room in fragments of pink. The color changed with her feelings, so with each flash the color was different. Finally, she was having fun with it and was able to change each piece of ice to a different color. Now the room looked like it had windows made of stained glass. I ruffled her hair as she played with the pieces and made abstract shapes to be lit up. I was amazed that she had control over this many pieces of ice.

* * *

  
Kakashi's View:

By noon, Pakkun and I were deep in the forest when a large explosion was set off. I lifted my headband, watching it with my sharingan.

"Kakashi, what is that?" Pakkun asked.

"That chakra...Akatsuki." It was the same chakra those twins had. I wasn't sure which one had done it, but it could only mean one thing, Sasuke was nearby.

* * *

  
Everyone met back up, the dogs all catching the same scent and leading us to where the explosion had been. Sasuke's scent was just gone...but he couldn't have been far. A reverse summon of any kind had to be close by to work properly. It was pointless, however Shiba had tracked a new scent. This one was one he found in town, one that had also held Sasuke's scent.

"He was just here, along with other scents…" Kiba confirmed. I could smell them as well, but had no idea where they went.

"Let's go then!"

"We can't…" Pakkun told him.

"The trail ends here." I confirmed, but Kiba was concentrating.

"Looks like they weren't blown up after all, I got 'em." Kiba smirked. "Nowadays, my nose is better than a ninja hound's." That meant I no longer held the title for most sensitive nose. We followed the trail from here, knowing it had to be one of Sasuke's new teammates.

* * *

  
"What's wrong?" Kiba suddenly got tense, causing Naruto to panic.

"Something's not right...Sasuke's on the move but his scent is going all over the place." Kiba reported.

"They must know where are them and are trying to fool our senses." I told them, knowing of this tactic. It was the best option when you had a hound on your trail.

"How did they…" Sakura started.

"I don't know. They might have an experienced sensory type on the team…"

"We can't split up too far, the coms won't work ,which scent do we follow?" Kiba shouted. Naruto solved this problem and made a bunch of clones, making them fan out to find Sasuke.

* * *

  
On our way, we ran into a man with an orange mask. He wore the Akatsuki attire, but I'd never seen him before. Despite this, something felt familiar about him.

"That cloak...Akatsuki." Yamato noticed him next.

"He's not in the report Kabuto gave us." We'd run into his as well, but he wasn't doing too well. He wanted Orochimaru's jutsu to take control of him, to become the next snake sannin. He was going to end up consumed by power if he wasn't careful.

"Oh, that's cause I'm new…" The man answered, over hearing us. I heard Kiba yell at him for being too cocky.

"Not taking me seriously? Not cool!" The goofy man called back. Naruto in this time had used a clone to attack from behind, but instead of landing he went through the man. The masked man laughed at him. He led us on a chase through the forest, seeming to be leading us somewhere.

"Be careful, he could be leading us into a trap." I warned everyone. They all nodded, taking a new formation and attacking again, only to seemingly miss him.

* * *

  
"Tobi!?" I heard a new voice up ahead. When we got closer, I saw it was one of the twins. It was the woman and she looked terrified to be caught by the masked man.

"Uh oh, looks like I lead them here…" Tobi didn't sound so sorry about it. He drew us here to her. She didn't have clouds on her cloak, making me wonder if she had ever really been part of Akatsuki from the start.

"You again?!" Naruto yelled. "Where's Itachi?!" Sakura was behind him and missed her by inches, hitting the tree instead.

"You're not getting away this time!" The pinkette yelled. Sai tried to corner the bomber, but she escaped his ink by using clay mites.

"You have it wrong…" I turned around to the soft voice of the blonde woman, watching Yamato capture her. I wanted to ask what she meant, but Naruto attacked. "Wait, no!" I heard her cry.

"Naruto!" Hinata called out. "She's pregnant! Don't!" Naruto let the jutsu go in shock and instead smacked into her, forcing her backwards out of the tree. I saw her ankle get twisted, knowing she couldn't run anymore. Now I understood, she wanted to get away from this guy because of the child she held.

"Yamato, we need to try and get the woman away from him." I told him, which he relayed to Sai. We kept the new plan quiet, knowing Naruto would shout it out and kept it from him.

"Nina-chan!" I heard Tobi call out, watching him put Nina's arm over his shoulders and take off with her. _Shit...too late._

"Our formations aren't working...how is he able to avoid them?" And now we couldn't risk the woman he had.

"How the hell did he dodge it, we nailed him!" Kiba said, landing near Naruto. He and Naruto talked about how their attacks seemed to go right through him. Shino, confirmed that was what was happening.

"It must be a clone or a genjutsu then…" Sakura thought.

"I-I thought so too...but other than her, there's no other chakra signatures around us." Hinata had been watching with her Bykugan. I was learning Tobi was far stronger than he let on, hiding his real power from us and just playing pranks on us.

"Teehee!" Tobi laughed in glee as he leapt back.

"What do you think, Kakashi?" Yamato asked, knowing I was watching with my sharingan. Only thing was, I couldn't copy it.

"It must be something unique to him...which makes things hard for us. Shino." I knew his bugs would be perfect for this.

"I know..." He quickly used his bugs to surround the two Akatsuki members, trapping them in the sphere of bugs.

"Now Shino! Suck their chakra out!" Naruto was happy we had them, then suddenly Hinata noticed something was off.

"T-They're gone!" The bugs released, showing no one was left.

"My bugs...were tracking their chakra. This is unprecedented…"

"Was it a teleportation jutsu?" Sakura asked, but Shino said it could not of been. That left a space time jutsu... _that's impossible_. Unless, _he has the sharingan!_  
"I found them!" Hinata said, turning around and looking into a tree. The blonde woman was throwing up over the edge of the branch.

"Oops, should have warned ya. First timers usually get sick." Tobi told her. Kiba attacked, but it went through Tobi again. He shouldn't have attacked on his own like that, he nearly hit the blonde.

A plant started growing by them, revealing a man inside. _What the hell?_

"Well?" Tobi asked the plant.

"It's over…" Sakura asked what he meant. "Sasuke won. Itachi is dead." All of us were shocked, but none of the reactions were like the woman next to Tobi. _The child...no, it couldn't be._ But that reaction confirmed for me that she had been with Itachi.

"Oh! Didn't see that coming! NOT! Just as I predicted." Tobi was gloating, rubbing it in all for the sake of upsetting her more.

"Sasuke collapsed a second later. We should hurry, he might be fading fast."

"Hey! Aloe Vera! Where is Sasuke!?" Naruto yelled. The plant man didn't like the name.

"I'll play with you children another time…" Tobi's voice changed, suddenly deeper and far more menacing. He hauled Nina up by her arm, watching her face as he caught her in another portal. She was afraid of what was going to happen to her. As Tobi left, I saw the glow inside of his mask.

"Sharingan?!" I was shocked, not knowing there was a third Uchiha out there. "We have to get to Sasuke before they do! Hinata, what do you see at four o'clock?!" I asked her.

"Um...it's six miles from here...the forest is on fire, with black flames."

"That's it! Everyone, follow me!" I rounded them back up, taking off again in the direction the blonde woman had come from. I just hoped we got there to save them…

* * *

  
Once there, we realized there was no way to get in. Yamato made an earth jutsu to split the earth for us to pass, but he had to stay back to keep the path open.  
Inside, the area was covered in rubble and small patches of blood, but there was no sign of Sasuke.

"There's a trace of their scent, but…" Kiba started.

"We're too late…" I sighed. Naruto stood off to the side, angry we were to late. I worried, what would become of Sasuke and the woman that seemed to be trapped in their clutches?


	29. Chapter 29

Iruka's View:

The piles of papers around kept reminding me how much I needed to do, but it wasn't important right now. Grading could wait. Right now, I was trying to find words to explain to Aurora someone very important had been killed. Right now I was letting her play with my hair from the couch, while I sat on the floor. The coffee table had been serving as my desk, but none of it would get done today.

"Aurora...do you know why school is out for a few days?" I asked her, making her stop the tiny braid she was making.

"No." She was quick to get back to what she was doing.

"Do you remember Jiraiya? I don't know if you met him or not."

"The guy father had meetings with?" I really needed to teach her to keep secrets.

"Er...yeah. Well, something happened on a mission he was on. He was killed." That was all I'd been told. The announcement had yet to be made to the whole village, but I was told because of Naruto. I knew how hurt he would be and the only one who knew how to help him.

"Like Asuma-Oji?" She let the braid go, not tying that one off and letting it untie itself.

"Kind of, yes. Jiraiya was a Legendary Sannin, one of three. He, Tsunade and Orochimaru were the strongest ninja ever to have lived." Only one was left now, Tsunade.

"Oh…" She was impressed, but didn't understand why his death was more important.

"He was the only one of the three to master the Sage technique." I explained. "It's a complicated technique that uses nature chakra. It's...hard to explain." Kakashi might know more on that than me, but I knew it used chakra gathered from your surroundings.

"Is that what father is doing with his team?"

"Yeah, Tsunade is telling Naruto what happened. Kakashi is there to help him cope."

"Can we go too? Naruto-nii might be sad." It warmed me to know she cared.

"You want to?" She nodded, taking my hair out of its tiny braids.

* * *

  
I saw Naruto before she did, seeing how lost he looked. I took her hand, holding her back from running to him when she saw him.

"Hey, Naruto." I called out, pulling him out of his daze. He must have just left the office. "I heard you're doing all sorts of crazy missions now. What do you say we go to Ichiraku for some ramen, eh?" He just looked away sadly towards the ground.

"Naruto-nii?" Even Aurora couldn't break the spell.

"No thanks…" He walked past us, not even bothering to answer her. I knew he was hurting.

"Maa, give him time." We turned around to see Kakashi had caught up. "He just lost his godfather…" Aurora looked heartbroken that Naruto was sad, she didn't get the pain he was in. "Come on, let's get home." He urged us.

* * *

  
Later that night, I knew Naruto would be out. He would be restless and needed to know everything was going to be ok. Aurora wanted to come, but it was very late. I know she had picked up how sad Naruto was, but she was still little.

"I only want to give him a hug." I gave in, knowing she'd sneak off anyway.

"Just don't until he says, ok?"

* * *

  
Kakashi chose to stay home, trying to figure out what the code Jiraiya had left could be. He didn't have it, but he was still thinking of what the key could be.  
We found Naruto on a bench, the street lamp casting a shadow to hide the fact he was crying.

"Naruto…" I called softly, making him jump a little. He moved over to let me sit, Aurora standing near my knees. "We heard about Jiraiya-sama." I told him, letting him answer.

"I wanted him to watch over me...to keep watching and see me become Hokage." The voice wasn't the Naruto I knew. It sounded hollow and broken. "To see me more than just a screw up…" He laughed humorlessly.

"Jiraiya-sama had nothing but praise for you." I assured him, having talked to him at least once about our blonde student. "He was always bragging about you, like you were he's grandson." This cheered Naruto up a little. "He never doubted for a second that you wouldn't be a wonderful Hokage. You inherited his spirit, Naruto. Jiraiya-sama will always be watching over you and I'm sure he is now." I said, standing up to kneel in front of Naruto to take his melting popsicle and breaking it in half. "Don't stop being the person who earned that praise. Keep making Jiraiya brag about you." Naruto smiled, giving the other half to Aurora, which made her light up.

"Thanks, Iruka-sensei." Naruto looked at Aurora. "Hey...what happened to your hair?" She puffed her cheeks in a pout, still not liking how short it was.

* * *

  
Kakashi's View:

The Elder Toad told us what had happened to Jiraiya. He was spying on the Rain Village, but he never expected to fight Pain. Apparently Jiraiya had forced himself back to life to leave the code, a message of who Pain really was. Jiraiya had given us three clues, but this one was the most important. Thing was, he didn't give a key to his message so no one knew what it said. Shikamaru had called on me to take a look. Aurora was along with me, leaving Iruka alone to get some paperwork done. I hadn't had time to spend with her lately, so I decided to try to make it up to her and spend some time with her today.

"Hm...9, 31, 8, 106, 7, 207, 15…" I read out loud.

"What's that?" She asked.

"A code we're trying to figure out. Ringing any bells?" Shikamaru asked.

"Well...106 was…" I couldn't say that it was something Jiraiya had said about Tsunade's breasts. "Never mind. Try Tsunade-sama or Naruto."

"Tsunade-sama doesn't know...guess I'll try Naruto."

"I'm more worried about him than this code…"

* * *

  
I decided we should stay near the criptics office, in case they needed anything. Aurora was confused at to what we were doing.

"Well, the code might involve these books. I have a feeling, if I'm right, were missing something very important." And I knew Shikamaru planned to bring Naruto here. Who said I couldn't spend the day with Aurora and work all in one?

It didn't take long for my suspicion to be confirmed. They spoke about how the 9 wasn't really a 9. It was a hand writing quirk, the 9 was katakana for "Ta."

"I think you'll find this volume interesting." I said, opening the window. Shikamaru was happy to see the book, but annoyed I had been listening in.

"The book title...Ta!" He grinned. Like I hadn't noticed…

"That's the book he wrote while training me!" Naruto said, figuring something out.

"I was right, the note was for Naruto. Without him I never would have noticed." Shimamura smiled. We discussed what the numbers must be then, seeing as it was hidden in this volume. Aurora was very confused.

"Father, what does this all mean?"

"Maa, we figured out the key to the code." I'd explain later

"Y-You brought Aurora?" Shikamaru suddenly blushed, unable to see her. The window was above her head.

"Page 31 is first." The woman with the big glasses said. "Let's see, most common is the first letter of each page. Read the first sentence out loud, please, so we can know the world of the book."

"Uhh…" I could feel the sweat forming on my forehead. I couldn't...not with her. Ok, maybe it was a mistake to make this a day out together.

"What's the problem, just read it already!" Naruto yelled. I gulped, reading them all one by one.

* * *

  
My face was burning, embarrassed and knowing that Aurora would question every single one. The worst one's were vivid discriptions of sex. I couldn't sensor them, and Aurora was horrified. The woman didn't write all of the sentences down, just the first few words, but I still had to read them all for context. Shikamaru was just as scared, but no more than I was.

"Father…?"

"N-not now…" I told her, not wanting to answer any questions right now.

"Ok...with the first words of each sentence, we get…"The real one isn't with them."" The woman told us.

"The hell does that mean?!" Naruto frowned.

"Let's find Fukasaku-sama and see if he has any idea." This time, Aurora was going back home. No more unexpected porn reading for her…

* * *

When Iruka found out, I wondered if this was how my life would end. The threat of the collection of books shoved up my ass was a new one, though after I told him I might enjoy that he regretted saying it.

"Damnit Kakashi...she not even six yet! She's going to repeat everything she heard today!" He was worried that the class would start copying her, making his life hell.

"It's not like I planned it...?" I still got a scroll between the eyes for it.

"You are explaining this...I'm not covering." He glared, pointing towards the stairs. Aurora was peeking through the banisters, having overheard our fight.

"Maa...alright." Guess I'd get to scar her some more.

* * *

  
We sat on the bear, it was becoming more of a chair than a play thing any more. Aurora looked at me expectantly, waiting for me to talk first.

"So...about what you heard me read…" I really had no idea where to begin. She was too young for the talk...right? "So...er...when a-a man and a woman love each other, they sometimes...do stuff." She made a face, knowing I wasn't saying what I wanted to.

"Huh?"

"You know what...never mind. You're not old enough for that...the book isn't important." I know she saw how red I had become, even with my mask and headband covering my face. "The point is, I shouldn't have read it with you there."

"So why..."

"I had no idea they wanted me to read it." I cut her off. "I promise next time we'll do something you want to, ok?" She wasn't done questioning me, but it would stop them for today. I had to go back to the Hokage's office.

* * *

  
Aurora's View:

Father just confused me further. What was the book about and why were people obsessed with weiners?! Dad wouldn't answer me either, saying he didn't read the books. I guess I'd have to wait until Naruto got back. He might know.

* * *

  
Of course, Naruto had to leave on a mission last evening, so I'd have to wait a little longer to know. Father explained to us that he was doing Sage training to be able to fend off the Akatsuki. From what I understood, their leader was the one who killed Jiraiya-sama.

I looked at the mark on my arm, wishing I could get rid of it. If it wasn't for this, I might be able to help out with protecting Naruto. Dad said I was strong enough, but I knew this thing was holding it back. I felt someone appear next to me, making me jump.

"Aurora, would you care to explain?" Iruka-sensei was by me, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Um…" I had no idea what he was talking about. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and I glanced to the board. "Chakra natures?"

"What about them?" I heard the class laughing quietly. I looked away, unsure what he meant. "Which nature is superior and which one isn't between earth and lightning?"

"Lightning." I remembered what Yamato taught Naruto and me. "Earth is superior to water though." At least he was impressed and it got me out of trouble. I sighed, when he walked away, asking other kids questions. I hated when he snuck up on me like that…

* * *

  
After school, I went off to play with Yuri and Sora in the park. Dad had to work in the missions room and father was back in the...crypt...ish...the decoding room. I forgot what it was really called, but Shika-kun needed help still. Father was going to meet me here later. Yuri-chan's mom would be by soon too and Sora-kun's aunt would be by later, allowing us time to play.

"Let's build a sand castle!" Yuri beamed.

"Yuri-chan, this isn't the beach…" Sora told her as she tried to make a mound into a different shape.

"So?"

"You need water." I told her, making her pout.

"Well...you can make water, right?" She tilted her head in a questioning way.

"I mean...yeah...but."

"So we can!"

"Yuri-chan…" Sora sighed. "It doesn't work like…" Yuri got up and backed away.

"Who's that?!" Sora and I turned, seeing a man watching us in the shade of a tree. _The old man with the bandages…_

"What do you want?" Sora asked him, stepping in front of me to shield me.

"I'm not here for you, boy. I'm here for her." He lifted a finger and pointed at me. "Have you learned your true powers yet? What dangers you hold against the village? Because of your power, Konoha won't be safe until you do." He stepped forward into the sunlight to see us better.

"Y-you shouldn't be talking to us." Yuri tried. "You're a stranger."

"No, Yuri, it's "you're not supposed to talk to strangers."" Sora corrected her. While they argued, the man moved with lightning speed to get behind Sora and grab me. Yuri ran off screaming, going to find help, while Sora tried to make him let me go. He held me around the waist and pulled me back when the old man tried to take me.

"Let me go!" I yelled. "I don't want to go with you!" He made a hand sign, making my arm burn.

"You don't believe me? Fine...let me show you how little control you really have…" I felt what could only be described as a snap inside of my arm and the burning got worse. I felt the flare, but I couldn't warn Sora. He didn't let go in time and was frozen to the spot, like the time I had frozen Gai-Sensei. "Do you see what you are now?"

"Sora-kun?!" I tried to grab his hand, but the old man grabbed me by my shirt. "No! Stop! I have to unfreeze him!" My feet didn't touch the ground anymore, he was carrying me away.

"It won't matter, he's nothing to this village. You, you have a power we should be harnessing." He told me as a masked ninja appeared, taking a hold of me and trying to put me over his shoulder. "Without refinement, you pose a threat. You will come with me..."

"I...said, NO!" With the seal broken, all of my chakra was back, which allowed me to push him back with a large icicle between us. "I won't go with you! I'm not a danger to anyone!"

"But look what you've done to your friend…" He was looking at me through the ice.

"No...you did that. You released the seal...you caused the flare!" The ground was turning to icy now, spreading towards Danzō. He was right about one thing, I had no control over it. It spread up the trees and turned the playground into an icy wonderland. The seal was leaking chakra to fast, the breaking of the it causing a reversing effect.

"You must calm down now…" The man glared, his masked helper getting ready to attack me. "I see someone has tampered with my mark...you didn't tell did you?" I glared, he knew it wasn't possible for me to. "Without me, you're keep losing chakra and eventually die. Come...I am the only one who can stop it." I couldn't trust him, but no matter what I did right now, he would get me. My chakra was depleting quickly, leaving me no chance at escape. Before I could even think to try, the masked man grabbed me again, allowing Danzō to grab my arm again and "fix" the leak.

"Now then...no more of this fighting…" I screamed as he put his hand over my eyes, knocking me out.

* * *

  
Kakashi's View:

I was on my way to the park, dazed still from all of the reading we had to do still. There wasn't anything else to do but wait it all out now. I sighed, just wanting to go home, when a lightning fast flash ran into me.

"Yuri?" I helped the frightened girl up. "What's wrong?"

"There'sanoldmanintheparkandhe'stryingtotakeAuroraandSoraistryingtostopitall." I hushed her, seeing she was a very fast talker when she was scared. I understood the gist of it, telling her to stay put and taking off towards the park.

* * *

  
The first clue something was wrong was the park being covered in ice, the swings looking eerie in the icy coating.

"Aurora?" I called out, seeing if she was hiding away. No answer… "What the hell?" I had to use my chakra to keep from sliding on the ice on my way to the frozen form I saw. "No...Sora." I touched the top of his head, applying my chakra to unfreeze the boy. He gasped for air, shivering, but ok. Thankfully her ice wasn't at full strength, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to unfreeze him.

"Sora, you ok?" I knelt down to his height. He nodded, still shivering. "Good...can you tell me what happened?" I rubbed my hand up and down his arms to warm him up a little.

"A-Aurora w-w-was k-kidnapped…" Was all he could get out. I was instantly in fighting mode.

"Where?" I know my tone had scared him, but I was pissed. He pointed towards the trees. I let him go, running in that direction.

I summoned my hounds a second later, alerting them to what happened at to find her. Bull growled in anger, the others were mad she'd been taken, but he had taken it harder than the rest of the pack.

"Find her. I don't care how." I told them, having them spread out. Moments later, Bull howled. He was the most determined and had found her first. "Good boy…" I took off, knowing the others would gather there.

If Danzo thought he was going to get away with this, he was going to be sorry. I planned on breaking every bone in his body if I found him.

"Pakkun, alert Tsunade. I might need back up." The pug took off, saying he wouldn't let me down. I just hoped I had the chance to find him first…


	30. Chapter 30

Aurora's View:

I woke up to someone holding me, carrying me down an unfamiliar hallway. I looked up, seeing it was a man with an owl mask. I struggled, quickly figuring out he had my hands tied together. At least they weren't behind my back.

"Let me go!" I struggled, getting myself out of his hold, but finding myself caught by the masked man from earlier; his mask was a rabbit. The grip he had on my upper arm hurt as he pulled me along. I felt tears running down my face, not from fear but from the pain in my arm. I didn't make it easy and refused to move my feet.

"Hush now." Danzō barked. I glared at him and stomped on the rabbit-masked man's foot. He didn't let go like I hoped he would, instead picking me up and throwing me back over his shoulder. "That's enough…" The old man's one eye was full of rage.

"I won't join you! You can't make me!" I yelled at him, no longer caring how loud I was. Dad said I had a loud voice when I wanted to. Both the old man and his helper winced at the volume. "LET ME GO!" I watched a window behind him shatter.

"My...what talent you have." Danzō seemed pleased I'd broken a window, rubbing at his left ear. "You have no idea what power you hold, what potential you still have. I'm here to help you harness it, but if you fight me, I'll have no choice but to use...unconventional methods." I have no idea what he meant by that, but it didn't sound good.

"Take her to the sealing room. Her mark needs adjusting…" With that, the owl masked man and Danzō walked back the way we came to get something, while we went off the other way.

* * *

  
"What does he want with me?" I kicked the man holding me in the chest, but he didn't flinch. "Hey! I'm talking to you!" I yelled again, which made him grab me by my obi and held me up by it.

"You're an annoying brat...what he wants with you, I don't know, but I'd rather silence you right here." I glared into the dark eyes of the mask. "Be quiet before I make you…" He threw me into a room, landing hard on the concrete floor.

I wiped my mouth, seeing blood from where my lip had split. I looked up as the man closed the door, locking it from the outside. Now that I was alone, I could try to find a way out. I was scared...but I knew I had to try.

I looked around the strange room, seeing it looked like a doctors office. Only, unlike Sakura-chan's office, it was dark and creepy. The table had weird brown spots all over it and was ripped by the foot rest. There were also large black straps attached to the bed to keep people from moving to much. That's when I realized the brown spots were dried, old blood.

"No…" I struggled to get out of my hand bindings, needing my hands free. They were too tight, not even putting my foot on the ropes and pulling would break the knot. The medical tools were missing, so there wasn't anything sharp for me to cut them. I sighed, looking up at the ceiling to see if there was anything there to escape. Even the vents in this room were welded to the ceiling, preventing any escape. I felt the room get colder as I realized, I was doomed…

* * *

  
Kakashi's View:

Tsunade was quick to respond, sending her best team with Pakkun. However, they weren't here to help, they were here to stop me. Pakkun was back on my shoulder, sneering at the ANBU that had promised him they would help.

"Senpai...we can't go off and kill him..." Tenzō started but I cut him off.

"If you won't help me get her back, that just means you're in my way. Get out of my way…" It was a threat, one I hoped he wouldn't push me to do. Bull growled next to me, ready to charge through the line of ANBU. Tenzō's team couldn't stop me, even if he tried.

"In that case...what choice is there." Tenzō made his two subordinates stand down. "Fine, but we can't charge in, guns blazing." He was trying to talk me down. "We need a plan."

"Tearing him from limb to limb is my plan…" Tenzō shook his head.

"I know the layout better than you do, I will go in." He was an idiot if he thought I was going to stand back and wait outside like a good boy. "Tiger and Lion, you two will go right up to his front door. Kakashi, you know where the sealing room is, that's where Aurora will be taken. You and I will sneak there while Danzō's men are distracted."

"Pakkun, you and the rest will wait out here and back up the other two. Make sure no one escapes…" I told my hounds. They all growled in acknowledgement, but Bull wouldn't leave my side. "Bull, go." He whined, but finally relented.

* * *

  
Aurora's View:

I laid on the floor, staring at the wall with my back to the door. I didn't want to give up, but I was trapped. The room was ice cold from me, a thin sheet of ice covered the floor and walls. I hoped it was enough to keep the door shut, but sadly it wasn't. I jumped when the door opened, seeing the shadow of the psychotic old man cast on the wall. This time, two more men joined him and all five of them cornered me in the room.

"Daddy…" I heard myself whimper, wanting him right now. I curled into myself, hoping he'd leave me alone. The only thing on my mind was going home and getting away from Danzō.

"He won't be saving you this time...not that he ever wanted you in the first place." Danzō told me as he grabbed me again, tearing the sleeve of my yukata when he grabbed the back of it.

"You're lying…" I glared as he dragged me to the middle of the room, throwing me back to the floor.

"Am I? You know nothing about the truth…" The other four made hand signs and made a sealing pattern appear on the floor under me, pinning me in place. "So I'll enlighten you. Has your father told you the story of how he found you?" He had, but I choose not to respond. "Five years ago now, Kakashi found you in a basket in the woods. That basket however had a seal on it. Do you know what the seal was?" No one ever said there was a seal on it. "Hm…" The smirk he had was dark. "That seal would make who ever touched the basket want to protect the contents of the basket. It made them instantly have a maternal instinct, preventing you from being killed."

I put this all together, but it didn't add up. "So?"

"So...the "love" your father thought he felt for you from day one, was nothing more than a jutsu. If it hadn't been for that, you would have been abandoned."

"W-what do you mean?" My mind wasn't keeping up all of the sudden. The world seemed like it was spinning.

"He never loved you. He never would have taken you in without that seal…he may still be under the effects of the seal" This feeling...I felt like throwing up. "Now that you know the truth, maybe you'll rethink my offer…"

* * *

  
Kakashi's View:

  
Tenzō's men entered at the front, confronting the ROOT members at the door. They refused to answer any questions and attacked, quickly getting themselves knocked out. This allowed Tenzō and I to enter from a secret entrance he remembered, one that had never been sealed even after he left. We both noticed a window had been blown out from the inside, my instincts kicking into high gear.

We stuck to the shadows in the rafters of the underground base, watching as ROOT members ran to the front to confront the intruders. They were still unaware we were here and I knew Tsunade had more backup coming. She had needed another reason to banish him since the council decided he wasn't a true threat. If this didn't get him arrested, I'd personally make sure he couldn't to this again. The image of him begging for mercy, like all of his victims had, had me itching for him to resist. The things I'd do to him…

Tenzō pulled me out of my murderous thoughts by signaling he saw something. I looked down to see the old fucker carrying a scroll.

Tenzō and I followed as close as we could, but we couldn't get too close just yet. Danzō had more men now, making the plan a little more difficult. We had a small opening, but Tenzō held me off. I glared at him for grabbing the back of my shirt.

"We need to know the reason…" He was right, we needed to figure out what he really wanted, so we missed the opening. This time, I made a move to hover above the door before Tenzō could grab me.

I heard Aurora talking, her voice shaking in fear. That's when Danzō started spouting nonsense about the night I found her and a seal that brainwashed me. If there was any truth, I was unaware of it, but it didn't change the fact the effects would have worn off long ago. A paper seal couldn't hold enough chakra to hypnotise a person for very long.

 _I see, you are sowing the seeds of doubt into her..._ He wanted to break her trust in me.

"That's not true!" Aurora was crying, upset by his lies. I watched a dark purple ice spread from under the door, I could only imagine what this was doing to her.

"It is, whether you choose to believe is up to you." He was moving around, glass clinking together. "Hold still." I heard her cry out and couldn't take it anymore. Tenzō tried to stop me as I landed, kicking the door in and pinning one ROOT member to the wall with kunai, taking another down with my sharingan.

"Kakashi, right on time." Danzō had been fixing the seal and taking blood from Aurora's arm, for what I don't know. The seal he had under her prevented her ice from getting to them, she couldn't hurt him with the icicles around them. I know she had tried from the broken ones in the sealing area.

"Danzō…" I pulled a reverse summon on my dogs, Bisque rushing in and pinning the other Root down while Bull got between Danzō and Aurora.  
Bull barked at Aurora, his way of saying he would protect her. His face was a little cut up from charging straight through the ice.

"You've gone too far this time." Tenzō had now taken cover of the doorway, blocking the hall with a forest of trees. "I knew you were low, but kidnapping children is a new one for you…" Sure, he had child soldiers in the past but none were kidnapped...by him. He brainwashed them, making them come to him instead.

"I don't think she'll go with you this time." Danzō didn't seem to be bothered by the fact he had a giant, gray dog baring his teeth, very close to his face or the sharp objects pressing at his back. If I commanded, Bull would tear his throat out. I really wanted to see him squired on the ice while Bull tore him up. "She knows the truth…"

"She knows your truth. Your truth is always twisted with lies, making everyone doubt themselves...you're nothing but scum."

"You may think that, but I never lied. This is the truth, Hatake. The Third wouldn't tell you, but I will." I'd had enough of him and flew at him, kunai slicing open his right cheek. The sneaky bastard found an opening in the ice. He revealed a wall wasn't really a wall, but a doorway to escape.

"You won't stop her from seeking me out again…this time, I made sure of that." I was about to chase after him, but Tenzō reeled me back in.

"Kakashi, we need to go. Reinforcements are on the way..." I really wanted to tell him to shove it, but he was right. Besides, I had damage control to do with Aurora. I'd left my mark on the old fucker anyway. He understood I'd slit him wide open the next time we crossed paths.

* * *

  
Outside, ROOT members were tied up by our ANBU reinforcements. They'd be taken in for questioning and this time the council had no say on if we couldn't or not. Danzō was on the black list now. Tenzō had Aurora, holding her close since she refused to let go. The second he untied her, she's clung to him as if her life depended on it. It hurt though, seeing as every time I tried to come near, she would turn away.

"Aurora, you know that what he said was a lie, right?" I heard him tell her as I talked to another ANBU about what happened inside.

"But...was any of it true? He said it was…" Her words stung, she doubted if I cared for her. I clenched my fists, vowing to rip Danzō's eyes out and feed them to him.

"Hatake-san, Lady Tsunade wants to see you." The one with a bird mask reported to me. "She wants to see your daughter too."

* * *

  
Tenzō came as well to back me up. Well...he mostly came because Aurora wanted him to, refusing to let go of his hand. I understood why she wanted him to go too, Danzō had planted a seed of doubt that he hoped would take root and make her go to him. I planned to squash that plan and tell her the real truth.

I knocked on the Hokage door, hearing an irritated grunt on the other side; Tsunade's way of calling us in. She wasn't alone though, the council was there too, waiting for us to close the door. _No wonder Tsunade was in a sour mood._

"Hatake-san…" Homura nodded to me. I have a feeling they were here about what happened.

"Care to tell me what's going on?" I looked at our blonde Hokage, noting that she was biting her thumb nail again. Aurora hid behind Tenzō, the room getting colder than usual.

"Tell me, Kakashi, what happened?" Tsunade's voice was strained, like she was holding back a pent up rage deep within.

"Danzō kidnapped Aurora. I have yet to see what he's done to her." I hadn't checked to see if he made another seal or not. I took a look now, seeing how rough he had been with her. Her white yukata was torn and dirty. Her obi tie was ripped as well, holding together with a few threads. The only thing intact was her mask, but there was a dark spot on it which told me her lip had been bleeding. I wanted to take her in my arms and tell her she was ok, but she didn't want me right now. She still clung to Tenzō, holding his arm tightly.

"He also told Aurora about the night Kakashi-senpai found her. He told her something about a seal on the basket she was found in." Tenzō bowed his head as he spoke, knowing it was out of line and asking to be forgiven.

"Is it true?" I turned my gaze to the old bats on the chairs in front of Tsunade's desk. The looks on their faces told me that for all this time, they had lied to me about what happened.

"Hiruzen didn't want to confuse you at that time. He knew the dark path you were on and wanted to stop you from spiraling." I felt the rage inside of me building again. Koharu moved, revealing that she had the basket under her chair.

She put it up on the desk to show us, carefully turning it over. It was true...there was a seal. The ink was smudged from the rain and the middle was empty from being activated.

"Whoever performed this knew what was coming." The old woman told us. I had known this, as well as Tsunade, but it seems she didn't tell the council about Kiri. It had been a good call, looks like Danzō and them were in cahoots.

"Most likely her mother…from what we gathered she had some time to make sure her child was safe." Homura spoke up. "It wasn't meant to be a secret forever, but Hiruzen didn't want to risk you giving her away. He knew of her abilities from the blood we recovered at the scene, you knew of this though."

"So what does Danzō want with her? Where the fu...hell does he come in?" I censored myself for once, remembering Aurora was here.

"He wanted to protect the village from a possible attack. Danzō wanted to make sure this seal wasn't meant to activate something inside of her..."

"You knew of him sealing her?" Tsunade stood then, a dark shadow casting over her face.

"It was for the village. It wouldn't be the first time Kirigakure has tried to unleash a beast within our walls." The way the old man stared into my eyes pushed me over, he was talking about Rin. I grabbed the old man by the collar and hoisted him out of his chair.

"You have five seconds to explain what the fuck you're saying." I growled.

"Kakashi!" Tsunade called out. "I know he has done us all wrong, but put him down." I slowly complied. "Explain yourself…"

"Danzō came to us with a plan to suppress her chakra until we were sure what she was. We allowed it, making sure everything would be safe. Danzō kept you out of it because of Kakashi. We feared that finding out about the basket would affect his judgement."

"The seal has nothing to do with my feelings towards Aurora. You bastards...you planned all of this behind our backs." I was shaking with rage by this point.

"It wasn't intentional, but we had the village to think of."

"She was a baby!" I yelled. Tsunade slammed her fist down, making the desk crack down the middle.

"You had no right to do this to a child…" She grit her teeth, equally as pissed off as I was. "Tell us where he went, or the two of you will be thrown in jail for contempt against the village. As it is...I should have you thrown in there any way!" Of course, they had no idea where the snake slithered off too... _wait._

"Orochimaru…" It hit me that Danzō might be experimenting as well.

"His dead." Tsunade spat.

"No...Danzō took Aurora's blood...what if he's experimenting too?" The Hozuki clan abilities were very desired of course, but the Yuki clan was rare. Whatever his intention, it wasn't good.

"Damn that old man…" Tsunade cursed. "The two of you are dismissed...Kakashi, you and Aurora stay." This meant Tenzō had to leave. Aurora wasn't happy about it, but he promised to wait outside.

* * *

"If I had known...I would have told you sooner." Tsunade said after everyone left.

"I just don't understand it, why keep that from me in the first place…?" I knew she didn't know either, but it bothered me that the Third had kept this from me.

"On a more pressing matter...Aurora, did he hurt you?" Tsunade knelt down to look her over. Aurora was being quiet again, most likely traumatized from everything. She did nod though. The room was still cold, but she had kept herself from freezing the room. Aurora pulled her mask down for her, showing her how bad the cut was. It looked like she had bit it, but not all the way through. Tsunade placed two fingers near her lip and healed it for her, looking her over once more for any other cuts. Other than a scraped knee, she was ok.

I knelt down beside Tsunade, trying to get her to look at me. "Aurora...please, what's wrong?"

"Is what the old man said true? That...you wouldn't have taken me in if the seal wasn't there?" She had heard everything, much to my displeasure. I would have softened the blow, but she got it all unfiltered.

"No, even without it I would have taken you back with me." However, would I have adopted her? I can't know for sure, but I know now I wouldn't have traded her for anything. "You were an innocent little one then, no one in their right mind would have left you out there." I ruffled her hair, making it stand up. "You wouldn't have been abandoned either." I knew if I didn't take her in, Iruka might still have.

Finally, Aurora accepted that Danzō was lying about my feelings towards her and hugged me tightly.

* * *

  
Tsunade and I found the new seal on her arm, my seal had been removed from over it. It looked the same as the first, but Tsunade found out that it had an unknown component to it now, possibly a remote tracking or activation seal. Unfortunately, it did seem to still be active but it was no longer hindering her chakra. Either way, the intention of the seal wasn't known. As much as Danzō claimed to be doing things for the village, he seemed to cause more trouble than help.

"For now, it's dormant. We'll question his men and see if they have any idea what he wants with her." Tsunade poured herself some sake from a bottle Shizune brought in. I refused her offer, wanting to keep a clear mind if Danzō decided he wasn't done. "Kakashi, I know you want to go after him, but for now, stay away from him."

"If he comes after her again…"

"You have my permission to tear him apart. Just leave some for me." Tsunade smirked. "Just don't go looking for him…"

* * *

  
Iruka had yet to let Aurora go. The second we got home, he had scooped her up and held her. He'd heard of the attack from Yuri, who had apparently run off towards the school after I told her to stay put. Iruka had been looking for us and happened to be checking our house to see if there were clues to where she would've been taken.

"Are you alright?" He was making sure the only thing wrong was her ripped clothes.

"I'm ok…" She was done getting squeezed, but Iruka had been beyond worried and wasn't done yet.

"Maa, let's sit, shall we?" He was in for quite the story.


	31. Chapter 31

Aurora's View:

I know father told me he wasn't affected by the seal, that he cared for me no matter what, but I still wondered. We were a family, I think...but...what made a family? I had to find out. Dad was busy at the missions desk today and father was off on a short mission. This left me time to ask others what made a family. I explored the village to see who I could find.

First, I ran into Sakura-chan. She and Ino were at a tea shop, sitting outside to enjoy the sun. They were very cheerful when I came up to them.

"What makes a family?" Sakura repeated. "Hm...well, I guess a mom and a dad make up most families." She wasn't understanding what I meant, but she at least tried.

"And of course unconditional love." Ino added. Neither answered my question, but I thanked them anyway. They wanted to go shopping with me, but I told them I had things to do. I didn't feel like trying on a ton of dresses today.

* * *

  
I ran into Choji-kun next in the square, but he didn't have an answer I understood. He told me some analogy on food and parenting, but it only confused me. Something about how food and love went hand in hand. Shikamaru ran into us, looking for the larger man.

"There you are, I thought you'd be at the restaurant already." He told Choji. "Ah, I see. What are you up to, Aurora-chan?"

"Shika-kun, what does it mean to be a family?" I immediately asked him. "Huh? A family...well I guess it has to do with the bonds you make in life. Why? Did something happen?" He was worried father did something again.

"Danzō said father wouldn't have taken me if it hadn't been for a seal that made him want to protect me." Both the guys looked at me like I was crazy.

"Danzō...you mean that old guy that's always in the shadows?" Choji asked. I nodded, but Shikamaru seemed to understand it more than he did. I think he knew of the old man

"Did he hurt you?" Shikamaru asked, sounding like father had when he rescued me.

"He did something to the seal and took some blood…" Shikamaru sighed, not liking what I told him.

"Let me guess, he made you doubt your father huh?" He gave me a soft smile and ruffled my hair. I didn't get why everyone did that to me. "Look, I can't really explain how it all works, but...love comes in different forms. Your father does love you, no seal could mimic that. Just because you aren't blood related doesn't mean he cares any less about you."

"So...family doesn't have to be blood?" I sort of knew that, but now it was becoming more clear what it all meant.

* * *

  
After talking to Shaikamaru, I think I figured out what it meant to be a family. It was nothing to do with blood, but something about the bonds Shika-kun was talking about. Did that mean everyone eventually would feel like family? I didn't get to think much more when an explosion sounded in the distance. I looked up to see a giant monster was crashing through town. I ran the other way, avoiding a building from falling on me.

People started running away, nearly crushing me when I tripped on a broken concrete barrier. I felt someone grab my arm and pull me out of the way. They pulled me in front of them to look at me.

"Dad!" I hugged him tight, but he made me let go.

"Are you ok?" He looked me over quickly before taking my hand and running again. "Come on, you need to go to the shelters with the others!" But before we could move, another nearby building came crashing down, forcing us to break away from the crowd.

"H-help!" I heard someone call, turning around to see a man was pinned in the rubble. Dad of course went to help, but I felt a dark chakra suddenly appear next to him.

"Where's the nine tailed beast. Tell, or I'll kill you." The man with the purple swirls in his eyes told him. He didn't feel right, he felt dead and stiff, but the chakra around him...it was almost like it was taking the air out of me.

"Dad!" I called, making the scary man look at me.

"Then, I'll go for her." I suddenly couldn't breathe.

"I won't tell you anything…" Dad glared, refusing to give up Naruto-nii.

"I see…" I watched in horror as the man took out a long, sharp pole from his sleeve and aimed right for dad's head. Just then, a familiar flash of chakra appeared, grabbing the pole.

"So that was just a distraction...so you could search without being noticed."

"K-Kakashi…" Dad was as shocked as I was he appeared. Father looked at me, but I didn't understand the look he gave me. I never got the chance to ask. He then looked back to dad with a similar look.

"Take the injured man and go. Aurora, go with them." There was no room to argue, I followed, feeling the chakra around the strange man becoming more suffocating.

* * *

  
Dad dropped the man off at the infirmary in the supposed safe area. He told me to stay, but I didn't want to stay here. Something was wrong, it didn't feel safe at all. The chakra of the purple eyed man was everywhere, coming from all directions. Everyone's chakra here wasn't right either, it was either fading away or completely undetectable.

I sat in a corner, away from all the injured people where dad told me to. He said someone who was evacuating children would be by. They were taking all the kids left here to a different safe area. No matter where we went, it wouldn't be safe. Sakura had come to check on me, but she was quickly called away to help others. I was alone here.

"Hey there, you're Iruka's kid, right?" I looked up to see Kotetsu kneeling in front of me. I remembered him being dad's friend, but hadn't really met him outside of the missions room. I nodded, taking the hand he held out. "Come on, we're going to get out of here." He held my hand, thankfully not carrying me like a child.

* * *

  
Outside was worse than earlier and getting closer to the hospital. A small group of kids were already gathered outside with another chunin and ready to go. Both men nodded to one another, signaling they were ready.

"Alright, stay close." The other man, who I recognized as Izumo as we got closer, told everyone.

We rounded a corner, and I saw how bad it really was. People... _bodies_ , were everywhere. One I saw made me run off from the group, Izumo chasing after me.

"Dad!" Tears pricked at my eyes as I ran to him. "Dad, no!" Dad moved at least, but his chakra was fading fast. He was pinned under a bunch of rubble, his lower body looked liked it was crushed. His eyes opened at little, but he wasn't happy to see me.

"N-no...g-get out...out of here…" He tried to move towards me, but his legs were trapped. Before I got to him, I felt someone grab me around the waist and pull me away.

"Iruka…" Izumo looked shocked and in despair.

"Go...it's too dangerous...get them...t-to safety." Izumo nodded to dad, taking a better hold of me.

"No! No, let go!" but I couldn't use any of my power. It felt like my chakra had been turned off. "Daddy!" Izumo put me over his shoulder and carried me away.

* * *

  
Iruka's View:

The last thing I wanted was to see Aurora's crying face at the end. _At least I know she's safe..._ Now I understood what my parents had felt. They hadn't wanted to make me go, they wanted to stay with me, but for my safety they forced me to leave. I understood her pain too, all too well. She'd be ok, that's all that mattered.

"Daddy!" I heard her cry, looking up to see her face one last time. My vision was blurred, but her face was clear to me. She was crying as she was pulled away, the pain of knowing I wasn't going to see her again hit her hard. I gave her the best smile I could right now.

"It's going to be ok…" I told her, hoping she heard as Izumo took off. I collapsed, my injuries from the building collapsing on me were too much. As I blacked out, I felt someone start to heal me.

* * *

  
Kakashi's View:

The feeling of dying wasn't as painful as I thought it would have been. It was like falling asleep. My last thoughts of my friends and sensei floated around me, like they did just before going to sleep.

"Forgive me...for not being there like I promised...be good, Aurora. Obito, Rin, sensei...I'll be there soon." That was my last thought. I felt the last breath leave me, feeling oddly at peace.

"Is that you, Kakashi?" I looked around, the only thing that wasn't shrouded in darkness was light from a fire. There, a man sat in front of it, watching the flames. I walked over to sit by him, recognizing his voice.

"So...this is where you've been?"

"Will you tell me about yourself?" He asked, looking up to me as I sat down.

"Yeah...it'll take some time, but I want to tell you everything." I had wanted this for so long, it felt like a dream.

"Alright…" He smiled softly.

"So, dad…" I smiled, feeling my chest swell with so many different emotions.

* * *

  
Aurora's View:

We were pushed inside a nearly packed room with other children, all of them crying for their parents. I wanted to cry too, but for a different reason. I could have used my ice to help, even as a distraction, but something was blocking my chakra again. The mark wasn't burning, but when I lifted my sleeve it was glowing a soft orange. I glared, knowing who was doing that.

"Aurora-chan?" I heard a soft voice and turned to see Yuri. "It is you!" She hugged me, even though she knew I hated random hugs. "Iwassoscared." She sobbed.

"It's ok…" I patted her back, knowing she didn't understand what I was going through. "Where's your mom?"

"Out there with dad and onii-san…" I knew she had other siblings, only having met one of her older brothers once. "What's going on?"

"Dad said Akatsuki are attacking." I told her, seeing other kids were listening now. "All I know…" As I spoke, the ground started shaking, making everyone scream in panic. Yuri and I held each other, hoping it would end soon. When it stopped, the sound of crumbling buildings could be heard in the distance along with shouts of injured people.

A numbness set over me, the sudden loss of all the chakra sources overwhelming me. The world was suddenly quiet and too still. The noises from the battle sounded through the room, echoing off the walls, but it was the loss of lives that made it feel so quiet.

* * *

  
Kakashi's View:

I told dad everything that happened after he died, about my time spent in the darkness. As we talked, he put his hand on my shoulder to comfort me. I nearly cried again when I told him of Rin and Obito, which led up to the death of my sensei. The pain of it was still raw, even after all this time. "It...wasn't all so bad. I have a daughter, Aurora." He smiled.

"Really? You married?"

"Well...no." I had no idea if Iruka wanted that or not. "I adopted her…" I told him her story, how she was brought to Konoha by her birth parents for protection. After I told him, I realized, she was the same age when I lost him. My heart ached.

"She'll be alright...this fire isn't just a fire. In this world, it allowed me to watch over you...though not all the time." So he had been watching over me, even after death. "You can too...if you wish." I wanted him to see her, since he'd sadly never be able to meet her. I focused and slowly a picture appeared in the flames. Dad smiled softly at the image of Aurora, though she looked scared.

"A red head. I bet she's a little spit fire." He joked.

"You have no idea." He paused for a moment, looking back into the flames.

"You've had your share of trouble too, but...I never thought we'd die so young. Though not as young as your mother." He always felt guilty of her death, but how was he to know my birth would cause her life to end.

"Regardless of what happened...you did your best." I understood what it took to take care of a child so young, raising them on your own as a full time ninja. If it weren't for Iruka, I would have failed. "I understand now...you broke the rules for our sake. I'm proud of you now." I also learned that people's lives are more important than missions. My dad looked down, smiling at the fire.

"Thank you…" It's what he needed to hear, to be forgiven for what happened. I was going to tell him that he inspired me later in life, when a light surrounded me, pulling me backwards.

"Wha…" I looked back to him, but he didn't seem worried. I wasn't done talking to him, I wanted to know more about mom.

"Looks like it's not your time yet. You still have some things to do, Kakashi. Take care of that little girl of yours...never thought I'd be a grandfather." He smiled, finally looking happy again.

"Dad…"

"Thank you, for forgiving me. Now I can move on...and see your mother again."

* * *

  
I awoke with a jolt, breathing in air with desperation. Choji and Choza were there, shocked to see me alive. Honestly, I was shocked to.  
"W-what happened?"

* * *

  
Aurora's View:

The fight had ended in Konoha, Naruto-nii apparently went off to finish it. The villagers we all excited, apparently the ones who died came back. I ran off from the group of kids, not able to wait any longer to see if dad and father were alright.

The village was destroyed, no buildings were left standing and mostly reduced to rubble. I couldn't tell if I was close to the street where I had seen dad last, but I could feel his chakra nearby. I ran towards it, seeing a crowd gathered near where the gate used to be.

* * *

  
Kakashi's View:

I was filled in on everything, hearing that Naruto went off on his own to find Nagato. As tired as I felt, I had to push on to find him.  
I found him, struggling to keep on his feet and caught him as he fell.

"I got ya." I told him, letting him hitch a ride on my back.

"Kakashi-sensei?"

"Hold on." I told him as we headed back to the village. "You did a good job, Naruto." I was proud of him for taking out the enemy, for saving the village.

* * *

  
As we approached, he saw the gathered crowd that was waiting. Tsunade's slugs had told the village what happened, allowing everyone to gather before he returned. Everyone cheered, lifting the boy into the air to cheer for him. Deciding he didn't need me for the time being, I went off to find Iruka and Aurora. _I hope they made it through ok…_

* * *

  
Aurora's View:

I couldn't find dad, the crowd was too big and everyone was cheering too loudly. I looked up to see that Naruto was being celebrated for winning his battle. I wanted to cheer him on too, but I needed to find my dads first. I had to know if they were ok.

Finally, I saw father coming towards me. He didn't see me yet, but seemed to be looking for me.

"Father!" I cried out, pushing past people and ducking between them to get to him. "Daddy!" He finally heard me, making a few people move for me to get through easier. He spun me when he picked me up, his chakra feeling a bit lighter than normal.

"Thank gods you're alright…" He held me close, never putting me down on the ground. I held him tightly too, never wanting him to leave like that again. I now understood the look he gave me, he was telling me he might not make it and that he loved me. Father died too, just like dad, but was now back.

"I'm sorry…" I sobbed, finally letting it go.

"What for?" He rubbed my back soothingly.

"I questioned if we were a family or not...a-and then…" then they both died. It was my fault for questioning it.

"Maa...you didn't do it. It's alright." He told me, taking me with him towards where Naruto was. "Of course we're a family. You, Iruka, Naruto and me…" He said fondly, letting me set back in his arms to look him in the eye. "Never forget that."

* * *

  
Kakashi's View:

Aurora's purple eyes shined with elation up at me. Had I known she was questioning what family meant still, I would have explained better. I pressed our clothed noses together, an expression of my affection I'd given her since she was small. How she'd never caught on to that, I wasn't sure. She giggled, just like she always did when I did this.

"Kakashi!?" We were pulled from our bonding time when Iruka called to us. We watched as he made his way through the crowd. "Aurora!" He embraced both of us when he got to us.

"Dad!" Aurora was crying again, this time Iruka was here to join her.

"Thank goodness…" He kissed her temple, putting their foreheads together. "I'm sorry...you weren't meant to be there." Iruka explained that just before Kotetsu and Izumo led the kids that were left to the safe area, a building was hit and came down over civilians. He was able to save them, but in the process got trapped in the rubble. The internal injuries he had sustained were too much to heal.

"You're here now…" I reminded them how lucky we'd gotten.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Emotional, I know. Please R&R


	32. Chapter 34

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy chickees

Kakashi's View:

The village may have been destroyed, but my dad's house had survived. It was just outside of the village, untouched by the fight with Pain. I guess it had been a smart idea after all, it had annoyed me that it wasn't in the village when I was younger, but now I see why. The only thing was, I had planned on moving everything from the house we currently had to this one. We didn't have anything except our sleeping bags and some cooking wear I had decided to keep. We'd see what was left tomorrow, but I doubted that more than a few pictures survived.

"Why didn't you tell me of this place before?" Iruka asked as he looked around. It was much bigger than the one I had, and four times the size of his apartment.

"Maa...well…" The memories it had held didn't seem to bother me quite as much now. "It was easier to live in the village at the time." I was about to sell the current place for just a bed and a bathroom apartment when I found Aurora. The ANBU had been grueling work…

"Right." Iruka looked around a bit but didn't stray as far as Aurora. She'd run off down the hall to look around. "When did you move?"

"Hm, fourteen? It hasn't been lived in in a while." I admitted, which made him stop in the middle of the living area.

"Are you sure…you want to come back?" I gave a short laugh at him.

"I'm sure. Iruka...what did you see? When you died?" I had to ask in order to explain what happened to me.

"I...I don't know." Iruka scratched at the scar on his face, looking adorable as he tried to recall. My death made me realize what I had and realize what I wanted. "I'm not sure I died. See...I was about to, I felt it. Then...I felt someone trying to heal me."

"Katsuyu, Tsunade's summon. My guess is she got to you just in time." I was glad to hear he didn't die.

"Did...did you die?" Iruka put his hands on my shoulders, pulling me closer to inspect me. He took off my headband to check my face, leaving the mask up for me.

"Iruka, I'm fine." I assured him, taking a hold of his hands. "I...saw my dad again. We finally got the closure we needed…" Iruka smiled softly. "That's why I think I can stay here again." I took his headband off his forehead to kiss it.

"Hn...is...the offer to move in still up?" We laughed, knowing that it had been this whole time.

"You sure your apartment manager won't mind?" I teased, earning a tighter embrace.

"I'm pretty sure he won't care." He was just about to pull my mask down to kiss me when I hear Aurora running down the hall.

"Is this where we live now?" She sounded excited, but her face fell a bit when she saw what we were doing. "Are you kissing again?" I watched with glee as Iruka turned red.

"Not yet." I told her, which made him turn a darker shade. She made a face, thinking kissing was gross. "Yes, this is where we live now. This is where I grew up." I told her, forcing myself to step away from Iruka to show her around. Iruka followed, taking my hand as I led them around.

* * *

  
Aurora liked my old room, it was bigger than her current one and would be perfect as she grew. In this house, she even had her own bathroom. My dad's old room had a separate bathroom attached, which meant we didn't all have to share one bathroom any more. Iruka was just happy the tub was big enough for two. This gave me other ideas when he pointed that out.

The only things left in each room were the mirrors on the closet doors. Guess it would do for now until we found new things. It was the least of my concern right now. Iruka was aware, but he had no idea how bad a state Tsunade was in. This left an opening for the Hokage title, one I knew Danzō would try to take advantage of. _Tomorrow is going to be a very long day…_

"Kakashi, you alright?" Iruka came back into our room after getting Aurora settled in. There was a chance she'd come and stay with us tonight anyway, she didn't like new places.

"Yeah, I'm alright." I didn't want to ruin the night with politics. "Think she'll stay in her room?"

"Depends on if the supposed monster in the closet comes out…" Iruka sighed. A new thing from her, but kids imaginations ran wild at her age.

"Ah, there's a monster in there, huh?" Iruka laughed, sitting on his sleeping bag.

"Apparently. We might need to get her a night light until she gets used to this place." I regret getting rid of everything now, I had one in that room just before I cleared it out. Oh well, hindsight I guess.

"Hn." I grunted in acknowledgement, not really interested in talking about nightlights. While Iruka was distracted with getting his flak jacket off, I pinned him to the floor, pulling his shirt collar down to nip at his neck.

"Hey." He said more in surprise to being pinned down on his stomach. "Kashi…" His surprise turned into purrs.

"I thought I wasn't going to see you again…" I told him, letting my hand slip into his waistband. I felt him reposition himself a little to reach up to cup my face, making me shift so he was sitting in my lap. In this position, we were facing the closet mirrors, making my pants tighten at all the dirty things I could do with that.

"I was afraid of that too…" He said softly, arching his back a little to look at me. "I'm not sure what I'd do without you…" He admitted, blushing softly.

"I know I wouldn't have made it this far without you." It was the truth, I would have lost myself in darkness again after Sasuke left. He crashed out lips together, needing to convey his love without words.

* * *

  
I grabbed his ass, slowly moving my hand to his cock. He moaned into the kiss as I palmed his dick through his boxers, hips pressing into my hand as he shamelessly grinded into it. I broke the kiss, pulling his pants completely off and tossing them away so I could give him a proper handjob.

The noises he was making made me worry Aurora would hear, seeing as I had yet to put any kind of silence seal on the door. Then again, she was further down the hall now so maybe we could get away with it tonight. Iruka looked too good to stop now.

I watched us in the mirror, loving the faces he made when I squeezed him in the right places while I stroked him.

"Look…" I grabbed his cheeks with the other hand and lifted his head to make him look at himself in the mirror. He instantly turned red, the head of his dick leaking precum at the sight of himself. "You look so beautiful right now…" I whispered into his ear, shifting to free my own need from my pants. In this position, I couldn't pull my pants down any further than past my hips, but I was still able to completely free myself. Iruka's eyes widened a bit, pupils dilating as he watched me line up to his entrance in the mirror.

"K-Kakashi!" He arched, the feeling of me going in mostly dry wasn't anything new, but we hadn't done this in a while. I did wonder though if he continued to finger himself, he wasn't as tight as I thought he would be.

The sound I made was almost inhuman as I entered him, biting at the nape of his neck as I sheathed myself deep inside of him. I waited for him to move his hips before grabbing his waist, setting a brutal pace. I wouldn't have if I didn't already know he liked a little pain. I looked back into the mirror, watching how his hole stretched perfectly around me every time I forced his hips down. He was trying to keep pace, but ended up just letting me fuck him when he was unable to keep up. He head fell back onto my shoulder as he moaned in abandon.

"You see how you look…so depraved..." I bit his neck again, watching him arch and make the hem of his shirt flutter to reveal his throbbing cock. With me completely clothed, the position and his look, it was like it was out of a porn novel. _Yeah..this mirror will really come in handy…_ "Iruka…" I used one hand to keep pace, the other making him look again, the dazed look just completing my fantasy.

"Oh god…" I felt him shiver as he moaned, precum leaking fast from his cock. I hadn't touched him since I started fucking him, I wanted to see him cum without me touching him.

"See where we connect...how we fit together." I licked up his neck as I spoke, nipping at his ear as he watched, finally meeting my eye. His eyes rolled back, cumming hard and splashing the mirror a little. The sight alone had me filling him seconds later. He felt boneless in my arms, completely relaxed and at ease.

"Hm...I love you." I nuzzled into the crook of his neck as he calmed down. I felt him move, pouting when I slipped out of him when he turned to me.

"I...love you too." Iruka smile, pressing out cheeks together.

* * *

  
I really wanted to continue, to fuck this beautiful man until the sun came up, but fatherhood came with its ups and downs.

"Shit…" I said as we both heard running footsteps closing in. Iruka quickly found his pants, pulling them up as Aurora came in, tears running down her face.

"Aurora?" Iruka was good at hiding how out of breath he was, but he failed to get his hair back into a proper ponytail and not a "I just got railed," mess.

"The monster is back!" She ran to him, jumping into his arms. "Is wants to get me.." She sobbed.

"Hey, now, it's ok." Iruka moved to hold her. "Aurora, there's no monster in there, remember? The closet was empty."

"No, it's there…" She hid her face into his shirt. I hoped she didn't see the dark, bruising bite marks on his neck.

"Maa, alright. I'll go check with you, ok?" I was going to solve this tonight.

* * *

  
The room was empty, like Iruka said, but Aurora insisted there was something there. Even with all the lights on, she didn't believe me.

"Alright, get your sleeping bag." As I had guessed, she got scared from being in a new place and was staying with us.

Iruka cleaned up while I went with her, making sure to hide the fact that we had christened the room.

"You staying with us?" Iruka motioned for her to lay her sleeping bag between ours. "It's ok to be afraid, but I promise there's nothing in your closet." He stroked her hair after she laid down. The second I turned the light off, she whined and hid under the covers.

"Don't worry, you're safe here." Iruka rubbed her back through the covers, making the little lump move further into the covers. I laid down on the other side, pulling the covers back a bit to look at her. "There's no need to hide."

"What if the monster followed us?" The way she whispered it made me chuckle.

"Aurora…" She pouted at me laughing at her for being cute. "There's no monsters in this house." I'd know if someone was here, the hounds were allowed to stay in the yard tonight. I decided they deserve a nice break and let them enjoy running in the grass.

"Promise?" Iruka suppressed a laugh.

"Promise." We both said, which got her to finally come out. " See, nothing to worry about."

She trusted our word, settling down enough to almost fall asleep. Iruka and I were about to as well, exchanging silent goodnights. I might have taken it too far, signaling to him with my hands what I wanted to do to him. He glared when my right pointer finger went through the hole I made with my left hand, nearly throwing a pillow at me. He didn't, knowing he would hit Aurora instead. He just turned the other way, ignoring me.

I had just closed my eyes, giving up on getting Iruka to look at me again when I hear Aurora shift.

"What's on the mirror?" I opened my good eye to see her sitting up and looked over to the mirror. Looks like Iruka missed a spot to hide the evidence of our love making.

"Er…" I saw Iruka stiffen in his reflection. "It's an old house, it could be a flaw in the mirror." She wasn't stupid, wanting to ask me more about why a flaw would be opaque and white, but I made her lay down. "It's passed your bedtime, time to sleep." She sighed, rolling over to look away from me.

* * *

  
I laid down, looking up at the ceiling and waiting for everyone's breathing to even out. As quietly as I could, I got up, looking over the two of them. This is what I wanted. I only realised what I truly had after my death, what I was going to lose when my time did come.

I stoked Aurora's short, red hair, careful not to wake her. She smiled in her sleep, cuddling down further.

"If you wake her, you have to deal with her." Iruka whispered, surprising me a little.

"Don't worry, she's still a deep sleeper." She had no reason to be on guard all the time like I did.

"I guess." Iruka reached up to me when I moved over to lean over him, pulling me closer. "What are you doing up?"

"Can't sleep…"

"You're as bad as her." He smirked.

"I don't think there's monsters in the closet." That made him roll his eyes.

"No, but you do think somethings wrong all the time." He poked me in the forehead. "You both over think."

"Hm, I suppose…" But I had reasons to watch my back. One was looming just beyond the shadows, waiting to strike when I had my guard down.

"Will you try to stay off the roof this time?"

"There's no neighbors out here…" This time he did hit me with his pillow. "Hey…"

"You want Aurora to find you naked on the roof?" He scolded me. It wouldn't be the first time she'd seen me naked, but it would have be a first to see me from the roof.

"Fine…no being naked on the roof."

"Kakashi…" I knew what he meant, but he also knew I would be up if I choose to be. "Fine, just try to rest at some point tonight?"

* * *

  
I made a promise, but I didn't keep it. Even with my hounds around, I didn't feel like this place was safe enough yet. Pakkun had woken up when I went out to set a perimeter around the fence.

"Really boss, we got it." The pug was sitting behind me as I finished.

"Better to be extra cautious…" Bull was the next to join, putting his giant head on my shoulder. I scratched his head, earning myself a very wet kiss from the large dog.

"Thanks…" He wasn't trying to make my clothes wet, but he couldn't help it.

"Let me guess, that bastard that took our pup is up to no good?" Pakkun was pretty good at picking things up. "You know we'll fight tooth and nail for her, she'll be fine."

"I'm just afraid of what he might do to get her away from me." With him in charge, he could find a loophole in god knows what and change the custody of Aurora. He could, in theory, even look at my track record and see me unfit to be her caregiver. He did have to then fight Iruka, which would be quite the scene. If I knew him, he'd tear Danzō a new asshole before giving Aurora over to him.

"You worry too much…" Pakkun sighed, following me back inside. "Will it make you feel better with us in here?" I knew they just wanted inside, but I let them, seeing as there wasn't anything they could get into right now.

"Just this once…"

* * *

  
I was awoken by Iruka's loud gasp. I opened my eye to see Bull looming over him, panting loudly and drooling onto Iruka's face.

"Ugh...Kakashi…" He wiped his face, pushing the big dog away. Bull whined, moving over to awaken Aurora with a lick across her face, her hair sticking up from his drool.

"Bull...gross!" She scolded him, but she wasn't big enough to push him off and got another loving kiss. "Stop!"

"Ok, she's had enough." I gently pushed him away. "We're awake now." Bull had a habit of making sure everyone got up at the same time. He was a living alarm clock.

* * *

  
The rubble of our old home was pretty depressing. The one wall that still stood was the one we shared with the old woman, somehow both stair cases had survived. They no longer lead to anything but a sheer drop to broken concrete below.

Aurora looked through some of it, seeing what was left to salvage. Most of the wood could be used, the rest was trashed.

"Oh look!" She pulled out something from a pile of debris. "Usagi survived." The blue bunny was dusty and missing an eye, but looked pretty good considering.

"Ah, that's good." At least something was left. I had also found most of my old pictures, the only one missing was one of Iruka and me. I didn't care about that one, I had the real thing still. I also found my book collection, thanking whatever gods there were those survived too.

"Looks like that's all that's left." Iruka sighed, finishing sorting some wood out of everything. "Not too bad considering…" He wiped sweat of his brow.

"We faired better than most." There were still thousands that had nothing left. "Come on, let's see what else can be done."

* * *

  
I was unfortunately called off to do a perimeter patrol while Iruka was called off to help sort more useful debris. Deciding that Aurora would be more helpful with me, I took her with me. She was still a little young, but she could help hand out water to some of the workers near the gate.

We ran into Naruto and Sakura already on guard, who had met up with Inari and Tazuna from the Land of Waves. Aurora hid behind my leg, still shy around new people. She only waved when the old man greeted her. Of course, they hadn't known about Sasuke so when they asked to talk to him, everyone's face fell.

"Well...you see...Sasuke...er…"

"Sasuke and I had a fight and he left the village for a little while." Naruto quickly covered. "I'll bring him back soon." Sakura looked thankful to Naruto while Aurora questioned it. They left not long after, needing to get back to work.

* * *

  
A few minutes after they left, Kiba came running to us on Akamaru.

"There you are!"

"Kiba-kun?" Aurora watched him as the dog stopped in front of us.

"Listen...Tsunade's been dismissed as Hokage. The Sixth Hokage is some guy named Danzō, I don't know who he is but he's pretty shady." Kiba's words made my blood turn cold.

"Danzō?!" Sakura knew him, he'd been a pest to Tsunade since she took office.

"That's not the worst...the new Hokage...wants to dispose of Sasuke as a missing nin!" I watched the light leave Aurora's eyes and the shock on the others.

"What the hell?!" Naruto was pissed off.

"I'm not surprised they didn't wait for Tsunade to recover." I knew he'd pull a power move. "It's true, Sasuke is a missing-nin. The punishment is death...it's only because Tsunade has been lenient that he hasn't been killed." I told them, knowing it was coming to this. This made Sakura determined to talk to Danzō.

"Sakura!" I grabbed her arm when she tried to run off. "Going in there and yelling at him won't solve anything…" Both of them started arguing with me, telling me it wasn't fair. I was highly aware it wasn't fair.

"I know you won't leave it alone when it comes to Sasuke, Danzō does too. Listen, the Jonins haven't voted yet, but Danzō is the acting Hokage for now. If you make a wrong move, you will get thrown in jail." I think he wanted that, to keep Naruto in the village like he wanted all along. He would use Naruto as a weapon, even if he had to force him. Naruto wasn't listening, even Kiba tried to reason.

"Naruto-nii, stop it!" He stopped, turning around to look at Aurora. "He wants you to go to him…" She knew how he worked all too well. "Look…" She lifted her sleeve to show him the seal.

"What the…" Naruto's eyes widened, seeing the new mark on her arm.

"He'll seal you too…"

"Naruto, she's right. You'll be playing right into his hands. Since you have the nine tailed fox, Danzō plans on keeping you trapped in the village. If that happens, you won't be able to go find Sasuke."

Naruto and Sakura went off to a different area, leaving me and Aurora time to talk.

"Will...Sasuke-nii really be killed?" She asked.

"I don't know." I hoped not, but as I had said he was still a missing-nin. "If he comes back to us, no." He had to give up first.

* * *

  
Aurora and I had to stay near the lumberyard to make sure no one took anything. I wasn't sure who would even try, you'd have to be pretty dimwitted to steal near a ninja village. Aurora suddenly ran back, scared of something that was following her.

"What is it?" I asked as she hugged my leg. Sai came around the corner, looking relieved to find me.

"I'm sorry to have scared you. It wasn't my intention." The boy gave her a genuine smile. "I have something to tell you…" He began telling me what happened to Naruto and the Cloud village ninja, telling me he was in a medical tent with Yamato.

"I see…" Aurora was upset that Naruto was hurt.

"Kakashi-senpai…" Sai bowed his head. "Is the bond between Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke have that important? Even if it causes pain?"

"Sai, you're supposed to watch Naruto right?" I knew what he was sent for, Danzō was watching the nine tails using Sai. He panicked a little. "It's ok, I know. But is helping Naruto like that part of your job?" It seemed Sai was understanding it a little better. "I think deep down, you know, Sai."

I knew how hard it was making the realization that you could actually care about someone, especially when all you knew was darkness.

* * *

  
Naruto was a lot worse than Sai let on. "They really did a number on you…" Aurora stayed back, afraid to hurt him if she touched him.

"I'll be fine...besides I heal fast." That didn't mean he shouldn't be looked at. Naruto announced he was going to meet the Raikage, but he needed our help to do that. Yamato argued that he was needed here, but I was sure the village would be ok without his help for a little while.

"I met the Forth…" He announced, ignoring Yamato's protest and shocking us all. "Yeah...he told me the masked man is the one who attacked almost sixteen years ago."

"It's just a Jiraiya feared…" All those years ago, we suspected it had been an Uchiha, but not one that was in the village. "Only Madara Uchiha had that much hatred and power to control the nine tailed fox." I had to explain to him and Aurora who Madara was.

"Sai, will you tell the Hokage this news." He agreed. Knowing how important this was. "Naruto, what did the fourth tell you?"

"Huh?"

"Fathers usually have something to say to their sons." Aurora had guessed right all those years ago, but I couldn't tell her until Naruto figured it out himself.

"He said he had faith in me." The blonde beamed. Of course Minato-sensei did, we all did.

"Great." I gave him an eye smile. "Well, that settles it. Yamato and I will go with you to go to the Raikage."

"What?!" Yamato wasn't liking the idea, but if we didn't go with him he'd just run off anyway.

"Don't worry, we'll be fine." He didn't think so, but I knew we'd make it out ok.


	33. Chapter 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mostly fluff and kids being kids. Also, Yuri's mom has a southern accent. Enjoy!

Aurora's View:

Father left with Naruto the next morning, leaving dad and I alone in the new house. The house wasn't scary during the day, but at night...something felt different around it. I felt like something was watching me all the time from the closets. Dad said it was my imagination, but there was something in the closet.

He let me have a flashlight at night to banish them away, but it didn't keep them away for long. I was going to figure this out, even if dad didn't want me crawling into the dusty crawl spaces. I opened the panel in the back of my closet, where all the weird feelings came from. I gulped, not really wanting to go in there. _Father would do it...come on!_ I told myself, forcing myself to go in.

The flashlight wasn't too bright, but I was able to see there were tons of spiderwebs. I hated spiders and hoped none would fall on my head. I kept going, the space wasn't very big but had lots of hiding spaces. So far, nothing showed itself, but I heard something in here with me.

"Who's there?" The light trembled in my hands. "C-come out…" Something poked its head out, eyes reflecting red in the light. I froze for a second, before realizing it was just a mouse. "Oh...that's all?" Guess dad was right, there wasn't a monster in here, just mice.

I turned around to leave, running into a spider web. It wouldn't have been a problem, but there were spiders in it. I screamed, flying out of the crawl space and leaving my flashlight behind. Dad of course came running in.

"Aurora?! Oh for...I told you not to go in there." I felt him getting the spider web off and shooing the spiders away. "Guess we'll need to get some bug catchers...you ok?"

"Yeah...spiders are gross…" He laughed, getting the last web out of my hair.

"So, what did you find? Was the monster there?"

"No, just a mouse." Dad made a face at that.

"Guess we'll get mouse traps too…" I didn't get why he didn't like mice.

* * *

  
With dad off work until the new academy was built, it gave him more time to spend with me. He and I both helped with fixing the village, but I wasn't a big help. I was too little to lift any of the bigger wood pieces, but I could help point them out and give people water. Most of the workers just thought I was cute and ruffled my hair anytime I came up to them with water bottles, it was really annoying, but dad said to be nice. I was, but I huffed away afterwards. No one was mean about it, I just hated my hair ruffled.

Dad and I were able to gather a few things for our new house too. Since everything had been destroyed, lots of merchants came to the village to help out with low cost things. We didn't need as much as others, so for now dad said we'd only get the basics. Sleeping on the floor wasn't the worst, so we could wait for bigger things like that for later. For now he just got a table and a few pillows to sit on so we had a place to eat dinner.

We did need clothes though, so dad let me try on some things at a tent next door. The lady there thought I was adorable and thought it was a shame I wore masks over my face.

I chose a new lavender yukata top with white butterflies, a dark blue obi and white shorts. New armor and things would have to wait though, this place didn't have any shinobi gear.

Dad joined me as I finished trying things on, rolling up the scroll he used to seal away the new things.

"Alright, what next?" Dad asked me.

"Oh, are you her father? She must take after her mother." The older woman came up to us.

"Oh, er...I-I guess." Dad gave her a nervous smile. I was confused.

"I thought I took after father?" Dad turned red.

"Father? Wait...aren't you her…"

"Uh...well, yes." The woman got a weird look, like it was wrong. "We'll be going…" Dad took my hand and pulled me away after handing the woman the money.

* * *

  
"Dad, what was the woman mad about?" Dad gave a heavy sign.

"Come here…" He lead me to an area with a bunch of logs where other people wouldn't hear us. "You know you're father and I love each other, right?" I nodded, questioning where he was getting at. "Well, some people don't like when two men are in love."

* * *

  
Iruka's View:

Explaining why being gay was considered taboo still wasn't easy. Sure, people were more open now about their sexuality, but some still were stuck in the old ways. This wasn't the first we'd had trouble, but it was the first one Aurora was exposed to.

"What do you mean?" She was confused at what I meant.

"Hm...how do I explain?" I thought out loud as she sat with me up on some logs. "You know how a man and woman can have children, right? Well, two men or two women can't. The old way of thinking, they thought that only a man and a woman should be together because they can make children." I was simplifying it, but it was the jest of it all.

"But...you're raising me." I smiled, she could be sweet when she chose too.

"Yeah." I kissed the crown of her head. "We are. The old ways don't make sense, do they?"

"No, why do people still follow them?"

"No idea. Come on, it's getting late." I helped her jump down. "How does miso and rice sound tonight?"

* * *

  
Aurora's View:

Just because school was out didn't mean I got to have time off. Dad was a teacher after all, so he doted on me while father was gone. While my friends had fun, I had to do kattas with dad in the new training room. I didn't resent him, but I wasn't happy I couldn't play.

"No, your feet are too far apart." Dad corrected me again. "You know this move." I did, I was messing up on purpose to make him get angry enough to get away. So far, he wasn't falling for it.

"Yeah…" I looked away from his angry face.

"So, why are you doing it wrong?" He crossed his arms over his chest. I chose not to answer, which just made him more mad. "Aurora…" He sighed.

"I know all of this already…" The earned a very stern look from him.

"Prove it. Show me you can do it right, and I'll let you go." He knew putting pressure on me made me mess up.

I aimed to prove him wrong, pulling it off without slipping this time. He just smirked at me. I hated when he did that…

"Now for the other ones." I sighed, completely done with his tricks.

* * *

  
Iruka's View:

I knew Danzo was acting Hokage now, but I didn't expect him to have ROOT waiting around in the bushes of the house. Kakashi had allowed his ninja hounds to stay here, unless summoned, to keep an eye on things. Bisque alerted me to them.

"Hey, you! Kakashi's mate! There's someone in the back…" He rushed back out, growling out the door.

"Stay here." I told Aurora, who was learning to sharpen kunai correctly at the table.

* * *

  
The Owl masked man was now in the open, standing outside of the ward around the property. All the hounds were getting ready to jump the face, holding back until he moved.

"What are you doing here?" I glared, knowing there was no way I could take him down. As long as we were in the barrier, we were safe.

"Only here to watch...don't worry, we don't want her, yet." I heard the sneer at the end.

"You're not welcome...get out of here…"

"Or what? Kakashi isn't here. You're no threat." Bull growled low, hoping the fence. "Calm down mutt…"

"I wouldn't call him that…" Ūhei warned him, the others growling, haunches raised.

"Tsh...you aren't worth my time…" He disappeared in a poof of smoke.

"Sons of bitches are out here now…" Bisque was sniffing around to see if he smelled anyone else.

"They can't get through…" I told them, but I felt the same way. They were far too close for my liking.

* * *

  
Kakashi was gone for almost a month now. It took a long time to travel to the Land of Iron. In that time, Danzo's men made their presents more known. Aurora stuck closer to me, not wanting them to take her away again. I couldn't keep an eye on her all the time, so I told her to go find her friends to play for a while. She'd be alright with them, the ROOT tended to stay away from construction areas. She was warned to be very careful and to stay close.

* * *

  
Aurora's View:

Sora, Yuri and I explored some of the leftover rubble near dad to see what we could find. So far it wasn't anything cool, but Yuri found a book with a torn cover and Sora...he disappeared.

"Psst…" Yuri and I looked up to see where the sound came from. I saw a doll head poke up from behind a pile of rubble. "Guys...over here…" The dolls jerky movements told me it had to be Sora controlling it. The dolls mouth fell open in a weird way as it disappeared back behind the pile.

Yuri and I looked at each other before deciding to follow the weird boy. Once we made our way there, we saw what Sora was doing. There were an alarming amount of broken toys in a pile, thrown away in the aftermath.

"Woh!" Yuri dove in and found a bunch of headless barbies and busted dolls. The one that caught my eye was under a ripped up teddy bear.

"Ningyo?" I picked up the now hairless wooden doll that Tenzo had given me. An eye was missing and she was cracked, but she still looked ok. The eye suddenly snapped to look up at me, making me drop her. She stood up and took shaky steps towards me.

"Wow! That one's really cool Aurora!" Sora said, making Ningyo fly through the air to him. He had taken control of her, making me think she was alive.

"Sora! That's my doll…" I pouted, but let him play. "T-er...Yamato gave it to me."

"Oh...sorry." Sora handed her back. "Here…"

"It's ok, you...um...scared me is all." No one had scared me with a doll before, now I had a new fear of dolls coming alive. I took her anyway, still wanting her back.

"Why are these all here? The other kids would love them!" Yuri had her arms full of a variety of broken toys.

"Cause they're broken." Sora told her. "Some of them don't work any more or...well have no heads. Normal kids would be scared of them."

"Why? Most of my toys don't have heads." Sora and I looked at her funny. "My older brother used to take them off of my older sister's toys and I got her toys when she grew up. Then my twin brother set some of them on fire and my little sister chewed on the feet."

"Oh…" I see now why they didn't bother her, all her toys looked like this.

"Well...like I said, normal kids." Sora shrugged. "I think you can take them if you wanted. Here." He gave her a barbie head.

"Wow! That's what the faces look like!? So pretty…" She then found more to match up with the bodies she found. A lot of them didn't match their skin tones, but it worked. Sora found a bunny head and was joking about putting it on a doll.

"No! Get that away!" Yuri backed away from him.

"It's only a stuffed animal…" Sora tried.

"No! It's a bunny!" Yuri was nearly in tears. "Get it away!"

"Yuri-chan, it's ok. It isn't real." Who knew she had a fear of cute little bunnies. Sora would never let her live that down.

* * *

  
With the mismatched dolls and a few other pieces of stuffed animals, we headed back up to the side of the rubble pit. Sora was sewing together what he called a "franken-stuffy," while Yuri and I played with the broken dolls. Ningyo was currently the ruler of broken toy land and helping the dolls put their heads back on. Sora ruined it by making his creepy mismatched monster doll tear through the tiny town. It had the bunny head with a cat ear to fill in for the missing piece, a body of a teddy bear, tail of an alligator and one white arm and one brown from two different teddy bears. The legs I think we're from baby doll and sewn on crewdly.

"The monster attacks the town! Oops...their head came off…" Sora had the monster stuffy holding a doll when the head came off.

"Aw, she was recovering!" Yuri pouted.

"Yuri!" I heard her mom call. All three of us groaned, having to go home.

"Let's play tomorrow!" Yuri said, gathering the three dolls that stayed together to take with her. She waved as he mom came over the ridge.

"There ya are." The blonde woman looked like her, just shorter hair and it was more yellow that Yuri's.

"Sora! Let's go!" Sora's auntie was on the other side, arms crossed over her chest. She looked mean, but Sora said she was nice once you got to know her. She had the same hair as Sora, but her eyes were nearly black.

"Aurora!" I looked back to where Yuri had been and saw dad. "Come on, time to get home." He smiled. What the woman at the shop had said made sense now, I didn't look like dad, or father for that matter. So, who did I resemble?

* * *

  
"Dad?" He looked up from dinner. "Who do I look like?" He looked confused at first.

"Is this about earlier today?" I nodded, making him sigh. "I see. Does it bother you that you don't look like us?" I had never thought about it before.

"No, not really." He smiled softly. "But then, who do I look like?"

"Maybe your mother? We don't know, sweetheart. Do you want to look like someone?"

"I don't know." I guess it just bothered me that my friends looked like others in their families. I guess I was just feeling weird about it, but I don't know why it bothered me.

"Just because you don't look like us doesn't mean anything. We're still your parents." Dad assured me. "We still love you."

"I know." I was just overthinking it all again.

* * *

  
It was almost two months now that father was gone. I just hoped he was home soon, the men Danzo had out were acting weird again. I'd seen them, but they never tried to hide themselves from me. It was like they wanted me to see them. The mark tingled each time too, letting me know they were nearby.

Today I didn't see Yuri or Sora, so I stayed with dad as he finished up the last house on this block. I was impressed on how fast everything was going and how everyone seemed to be getting along.

"Aura-chan!" I heard Yuri call out, nearly tackling me into a wood pile. "There you are! I missed you!"

"You saw me yesterday." I was able to squirm away.

"Far to long! Come on! Sora found another cool pile!" Yuri pulled me away, I head dad laughing and say to stay safe.

* * *

  
"Tada!" Yuri was on the edge of another pit, this one held more toys mixed with other neat things. Sora had found another doll with no eyes and was currently putting googly eyes on it. "Cool huh?!"

"You guys find the weirdest stuff." I told her as we lept down towards Sora. I found a spring and a pretty fan with a tear on the way down. We had to avoid broken glass in this area, but otherwise it was safe down here.

"Boo!" Sora tried to get us with the googly eye doll, but it looked too goofy to scare anyone. "Aw...you aren't supposed to laugh at it…" He pouted and put the doll down.  
A bit further down, we found an old mattress that was perfect for jumping on and played on that for a while. That was before Sora got the idea to race to the top of a pile of broken things.

"I'm not sure that's safe…" I told him as he climbed an old couch and onto an old cabinet. "What it you fall?"

"It's stable…" Sora sounded annoyed that I was telling him this. As he reached for a busted pole, the pole loosened in his hand. He fell back, the other stuff falling with him.

"Sora!" I put my hand out, unsure of how to stop it, when ice started weaving its way around the falling furniture and catching them, freezing it all together.

"Woh…" Yuri said as Sora got back up off the mattress. It was dumb luck he landed on it.

"Come on." I grabbed her hand, Sora following as we got out of there. The ice released once we were safe, letting everything crash down and create a horrible noise.

* * *

  
"How did you do that?" Sora asked as all of the adults came running to us.

"I...I don't know." It didn't feel like my chakra was locked away anymore.

"Aurora?!" Dad landed in front of us.

"Iruka-sensei! Aura-chan saved us from the falling furniture!" Well, Yuri just admitted our guilt, might as well just confess it all.

"Sora wanted to race, but it fell and I caught the furniture with my ice." Dad was as surprised as me, but others were not as happy as we were that no one was hurt.

"Mama!" Yuri ran to her mom, who looked angry.

"What wer' ya doin' up on dat damn pile o' trash!? You atta know betta…" She pulled Yuri away, telling her to be more careful. She was nice about it, Sora's aunt however…

"Sora! What did I tell you?!" She pulled him away the same way Yuri's mom did, but what she said broke my heart. "I told you to stay away from her…"

"Aurora…" Dad made me look at him. "Don't listen to her. She doesn't understand what happened."

"But it was…"

"I know, it was an accident." He brushed my dust covered hair back. "Some people just don't want to listen to that. You're not a fault, in fact, I'm proud of you. You saved your friends." He and I smiled, at least he understood.

* * *

  
Kakashi's View:

It took all my years of training to make myself seem calm in the counsel's office. They were just about to appoint me the title of Hokage. Right as I was to be sworn in, someone saved me by coming in to say Tsunade was awake. _Oh thank gods…_ I had said I was ready, but honestly I was not ready for that kind of pressure.

* * *

  
"Aurora please, the floor is slick enough!" Iruka yelled from down the hallway when I go home.

"But it's fun!" She came down the hall, freezing the floor in front of her as she skated around. "Father!" She stopped, deciding to run to me instead of continuing to damage the floor. They had needed replaced, but I guess it would be sooner than later. I ruffled her hair a bit, which made her pout.

"Seriously…" Iruka hadn't heard her clearly and was surprised to see me when he rounded the corner. He had been looking at the floors. "Oh, you're back." He smiled that beautiful bright smile. "Welcome home."

"Maa, I see you're able to use your ice again." _Good...that meant the bastard really was dead._ On our mission, we saw the aftermath of Sasuke's fight with Danzo. Sai revealed later that all of the seals the old man had placed were gone, he really was dead. I was a little angry I wasn't the one to do it, but glad she was alright. Sai revealed what the seal had been for when I got back.

* * *

  
_"Kakashi-sensei, about the seal on your daughter…" He looked ashamed that he couldn't tell me before. "It was meant to trigger her chakra, turning her into a weapon. If anything got really bad, she could be set off like an ice bomb."_

_"Anything else?"_

_"I believe it also had a reverse summon on it, but I'm unsure what for. I'm sorry…"_

_"It's alright. In the end, you protected her instead of giving her to Danzo when you had the chance." I put a hand on his shoulder. "You did good."_

* * *

  
I really wanted to be the one to kill the old fucker, but sadly I didn't have the chance. Thought Sasuke's killing of the old man was a blessing, it was also a curse on him. He technically killed the acting Hokage, solidifying his missing-nin status. Though...I wasn't sure what hope there was left for him now.

"You look tired…" Iruka had shooed Aurora off of me. "Do you want any tea or do you want to just go to bed?" I needed to talk to Iruka without little ears listening in.

"Bed sounds good…"

* * *

  
Apparently Aurora had conquered the monster in the closet, it had been a mouse in the crawl space. This meant she was no longer in our room and I was thinking of all the things we could have been doing. However, I was too tired with everything that happened.

"You're not trying to hump my leg, what's wrong?" Iruka asked, sitting with me on my sleeping bag as he let his hair down.

"I'm not always trying to get you into bed…" I pouted, letting him pull my mask down to kiss me. "Besides, you start it."

"Do not." He pouted. "So, what's wrong?" He quickly changed the subject.

"Long mission…" I explained everything about our mission to the Land of Iron. I didn't believe that the man who called himself Madara was really Madara. But the question was, who was he? He clearly had the Sharingan, but Sasuke was the only one left. Or was he?

"How's Naruto taking it?" Of course Iruka was worried about our blonde boy.

"As well as expected...he doesn't want to believe that Sasuke is completely gone." Iruka made me look back up from looking sadly at the floor.

"Don't put this all on yourself…" He knew me too well. "I know you, you're going to blame yourself for him going into the darkness."

"Maa...I also learned something else. Apparently Itachi wasn't who we thought." Iruka's face slowly turned into the stunned shock I had felt upon when I learned the truth. Everything finally connected as to what happened to him, I had always known he was too kind hearted to think of it all on his own.

"So...this Madara person has twisted his mind then…" Now he understood my despair. "It makes you wonder what else was hidden in the Leaf…"

"I think things are about to implode on the Root...I'm worried about the backlash. The ROOT has agreed to follow the Hokage for now, but that could change in a second." I worried someone would come after Aurora, despite ROOT being uprooted...so to speak.

"That explains why they stopped watching the house." Iruka told me what happened while I was gone. "They knew you were gone, I don't know how...but as soon as they found out they were watching."

"You're gonna hate me, but I knew that was going to happen." Iruka glared. "They were even following Sai and Naruto, they didn't trust their spy any more. I figured it meant they might be guarding our house too, sorry." He pushed me down on my back, hovering over me angrily.

"Tell me you're kidding…" I felt sweat forming on my brow. "Kakashi!" I got my pillow shoved in my face. He got up to leave to sleep in the living area.

"Hey, I'm sorry, you're right, I should have warned you…" Too late, he was gone. So much for cuddling tonight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No raptor chickens, but Sasuke still kills him! Praise the emo, duck-butt haired Uchiha!


	34. Chapter 34

Kakashi's View:

With Aurora's powers no longer suppressed, she was able to create stronger jutsus. The icicles she made in the yard no longer melted with just the suns help. She had also learned how to make the floors slick without hurting the floors or grass. Since I had no basis on what her powers really should be at this point, I guessed she was progressing just fine.

"Father look!" She came running to me from the field of small, icy towers in our backyard. She made a few hand signs, and all of the icicles changed colors. Most of them were green, but a few were blue and purple. She was learning to change the color with her chakra.

"That's very good." I gave her an eye smile. As impressive as it was, I didn't want her to just rely on just ninjutsu. "Say, why don't we visit Gai today, eh?" The ice all turned blue-green in excitement.

* * *

Gai was going to meet us on the edge of the drop off where the village once was. The area was fenced to keep anyone from falling into the crater that the village was being rebuilt in. I leaned on the fence to look over the construction while Aurora hung back, still afraid of heights. She was about to tell me, once again, that I might fall when I felt someone approach.

"Kakashi!" That someone come up behind me and put a playful arm around my neck. "Looks like you got home safe! Let me see how you're doing." He started checking me over, getting embarrassingly close to me.

"No...really I'm fine…" I said as he checked each spike in my hair.

"Gai-sensei, what are you doing?" Aurora asked, I was wondering the same thing.

"Making sure your father is doing alright." He gave her his bright, good guy smile. "Alright! It's been a while! How about a rematch?"

"Huh? No, that's not why..."

"We're up to one hundred matches right now! Let's have one more!"

"Ugh...ok." I started to play rock paper scissors with him. Aurora just looked very confused at the overly enthusiastic man.

"No sharingan!" Gai pushed my hand down, "No, rock, paper, scissors! NO! Not this time. Our challenge will be that!" He pointed to the Hokage monument.

"Gai-sensei…" Aurora tried to protest, wanting to know why we were really here. He either didn't hear her or ignored her and continued on.

"I've put a finish line up there! Lee is waiting! Let's race to it."

"Gai, this isn't the time for…" He just cut me off.

"I know, that's why I want a hot-blooded challenge between us right now!" I had no idea what he meant by that. "Do you accept it?" I sighed, turning to Aurora.

"You want to go ahead and tell us who won? Gai's right, there's no time like the present." This made Aurora make a face.

"Father...you said…"

"I know, I know. I promise we will train later."

* * *

Aurora's View:

Of course Gai-sensei and father ran past me before I could even get started on making my way to the finish line. I watched in horror as my father and Gai played like..well, children. I had no idea how childish father could be, he was so serious all the time.

"Who...is my father?" I questioned his entire personality.

I was just behind them the whole time, not able to keep up with them just yet. Choji and Shikamaru looked stunned as they leapt over them.

"W-what the…" Shikamaru tried.

"Hi Shika-kun, Cho-kun!" I waved as I passed them.

"Aurora?!" I heard them call in confusion. I had to keep up so I didn't stop.

I had to stop a few blocks down though, there was a bull pulling a cart that they avoided. I watched in amazement as father climbed a wall with just his feet to avoid it. I wanted to learn how to do that!

I almost lost them because of the delay, but I heard wind chimes go off a little ways away and followed them. There wasn't any wind, so it had to be one of them running into it.

I saw them on the roof tops, but I couldn't get up there without climbing a ladder. It would take too much time. I cut through some construction area to keep up, dodging workers. One grabbed me around the waist, catching me by surprise.

"Hey! What in the world are you doing?" It was dad.

"Gai and father are racing, I'm seeing who's winning." I panted. "I'm going to lose them!" I got away by turning into water for a second. I had learned to do that again after the seal was gone. I couldn't control it all the time, but it did come in handy for things like this.

"Aurora! Wait! It's not safe here!" I heard dad call, but I kept going.

"Aurora-chan?!" I stopped dead in my tracks when Naruto called. I had seen a flash of Gai's green suit going this way and was nearly knocked over by an orange blur.

"Don't tell me you're racing too?"

"Just keeping watch." But I wasn't keeping up at all anymore. "What are you doing?" Naruto's face fell. "Naruto-nii, are you ok?"

"Hehe…" He laughed and ruffled my hair, hard enough it stood up. "Nothing, don't worry about it." I know my mask was up, but he saw that I knew he was lying.

"Nii-san, you're lying…" Naruto sighed.

"You know about Sasuke...well...I'm going to save him. But...others don't see how it's possible…" He looked so sad, I wasn't sure what to do. "Anyway, like I said, it's nothing for you to worry about." I hugged him around the waist.

"Please don't get hurt…" I loved Sasuke-nii too, but it wasn't worth Naruto-nii's life.

"Hey...how come you call me Naruto-nii?" He completely changed the subject.

"Cause you're part of our family, right? Dad, father, you and me!"

"Huh?" He just looked super confused. Sakura had caught up to us at this point, listening quietly behind him.

"You know, Iruka-sensei and Kakashi." It felt weird calling them by their names.

"WHAT?! IRUKA-SENSEI AND KAKASHI-SENSEI ARE TOGETHER? Why didn't anyone tell me?!" Naruto freaked out, shouting everything to the world. Everyone around us heard, but thankfully it was mostly Naruto's classmates. They were used to his loud outbursts.

"Really? You didn't know?" Sakura asked. "Come on, it was obvious. I mean, they have a child together."

"Wow, you weren't gone that long…" Kiba teased him. "Three years of training should have sharpened your mind, not dulled it."

"Hey! Shut up Kiba!" Naruto yelled. "Does that mean...Iruka-sensei is living with you guys?" Naruto suddenly looked sad again.

"Yeah, but you can come over anytime!" That got him to smile again.

"Heh, alright!"

* * *

The others dispersed back to what their jobs were for the day, leaving me and Naruto to find my father.

"There you are!" Dad rounded the corner, having followed me here. "I told you it's dangerous, are you hurt?" He was still worried I'd gotten hurt in the construction area.

"No…"

"Iruka-sensei, when were you gonna tell me you're dating Kakashi-sensei?!" Naruto interrupted, pointing accusingly at him and making dad turned bright red.

"Naruto!" He was surprised at Naruto's accusing tone. "I thought you picked up on it. I'm sorry, I guess I should have told you." He scratched the scar on his cheek. "Well, I guess it's better to find out now than never. Oh, since you're here." Dad reached into his pocket. "I haven't told Kakashi yet, but here's a key to the new house." Naruto smiled brightly at dad, thanking him.

"Sensei...Aurora said we're a family…is…" Naruto had his head down, covering his eyes in a shadow. "Is that true?"

"Naruto…" dad put a hand on his shoulder. "Of course we are. You've always been important to me, and I know you are to Kakashi and Aurora too. You're part of the family." Naruto's shoulders shook.

"Naruto-nii?" I took his hand, which he then squeezed.

"I-I'm just happy." He finally looked up, smiling brightly again but tears were running down his face. "You don't know how much it means to me...I promise to be the best big brother ever!" Naruto suddenly picked me up, pinning my arms to the side and spinning me.

"Gah! N-Naruto! Stop! Put me down!" I protested, but he kept telling me how he promised to protect me and teach me new stuff and on and on. I was really dizzy by the end.

* * *

Kakashi's View:

The race with Gai did help me clear my mind. I had been stuck in my mind with the fact I nearly became the Hokage. He told me, even if I had, I would have been great. I had my doubts, but I thanked him anyway. I left back towards where we lost Aurora, hoping she ran into someone she knew and wasn't lost. The new layout of the village was a little confusing.

Of course, Iruka had found her. I swear her had a radar to detect her sometimes. They were joined by Naruto, who was spinning the girl around.

"Maa, don't make her sick." When he put her down, the little red head was very wobbly on her feet.

"Kakashi-sensei! You lied to me!" He was suddenly very mad at me, pointing at me in an accusing way.

"Eh...me?" I had no idea what he was getting at.

"You said you weren't dating anyone! You're living with Iruka-sensei!" Iruka glared at me, but both of them had it wrong.

"No, no. I said I didn't have a girlfriend, I never said I wasn't seeing anyone." I watched the tan chunin roll his eyes. "I thought you were smart enough to catch on, but I guess I should have elaborated." I mean, he'd seen us together at the markets with Iruka carrying Aurora. If that wasn't obvious, what was for this kid?

"Wha…" Naruto was dumbfounded. "You still tricked me!"

"No, I really didn't." I didn't want to argue with him, but he was being quite dense right now.

We were about to head home when a ninja informant came to find me.

"Hatake-san, you're needed at the hospital…" He panted. "A woman came to the gates with a child. She...was in the Akatsuki." Naruto's eyes widened as the man spoke.

"Iruka, go ahead and head home with Aurora. Naruto, go home. I'll be back…" In my mind I wondered, was it the blonde woman from before?

* * *

There were ANBU posted outside of her door, making sure she wouldn't escape. I highly doubted she could right now, the report was she had a child not long ago and was nearly dead at the gate. She was lucky there was a patrol out at the time. The guards stepped back, allowing me through.

She was very pale from blood loss, but Shisune was there to monitor her. If Tsunade was up for it, she would be here too, but for now she was still very weak.

"What happened?" I asked Tsunade's assistant.

"We have no idea where she came from. She just showed up at the gate. There was a report she was dead, but...she must have faked it for her child…" I looked over to the blonde on the hospital bed. Even passed out, she looked troubled.

"And the child?"

"He's ok, just a little underweight. We haven't brought him back to her just yet, she's yet to wake up." The brunette looked worried. "I don't know how she made it here without bleeding out first. She was out there on her own, there was no way she knew she was bleeding internally from childbirth. She is stable now, but…"  
I sighed, knowing this woman did it all for her son. It made me think about the sacrifices every parent had to make, the most noble of them was to give your life for theirs. I understood it all too well.

She started to stir, surprising Shisune. She checked the woman's vitals once more before the blonde opened her eyes. Panic took over, she tried to jump up but the cuffs kept her in the bed.

"W-where am I...where's Hiroshi!?" She was scared, mostly for her son, but I saw in her eyes that she feared us.

"Easy...he's safe." I put my hands up in a non defensive way. "He's being taken care of."

"Where. Is. He." Her voice now held an edge to it, she was becoming angry.

"As I said, he's safe in the nursery. Take a breath and calm down. Shizune, would you go get him?" Shizune quickly left, hoping to avoid the blondes wrath. She still glared, but she knew she was in no position to threaten me. "Now then, let's start with an easy question. What is your name?" It took her a minute to catch her breath again.

"Nina from Iwagakure." At least she wasn't fighting my questions.

"Good, now, Nina, tell us why you're here…" Before I could finish she started crying. "Huh? Wait…" She wouldn't stop.

"I-I'm sorry...I've been trying to get here for so long." She was actually happy, not upset about this. "I...ran away from the Akatsuki to save my son...the masked man wanted him."

"You know I have to ask this, but if it's too difficult to say then don't. Who's his father?" She got really quiet. "Is it the masked man?" I was afraid she'd been hurt in the worst way.

"Tsh...no…" She smiled fondly. "If I tell you, you must promise not to hurt him. He's innocent in all of this, take it out on me if you have to, but leave him alone, un." I sighed.

"Alright. I'll vouch for both of you to have asylum here, but in return you must tell me all that you know." She nodded as Shizune came in, holding the small child. "You may release her bounds…" Shizune stepped back as an ANBU came in to untie her hands. "Try anything and our deal is off." I threatened, making sure she knew she was only unbound to hold her son.

The look she gave her child when he was returned to her was pure adoration. It was hard to imagine that she was a criminal'

I waved Shizune and the ANBU out to continue talking to her.

"The only reason you're not in an interrogation room is because of your condition. Don't think that can't…"

"Stop you threats, I already told you I'll tell you what I know." She held Hiro close, making him fuss a little. "This doesn't leave this room…"

"I can't promise that." I stopped her. "I can assure you that only the Hokage and I will know."

She wasn't happy about it, but seemed to understand why.

"Fine…" She looked back at the child, caressing his face fondly. "I wonder, who he will take after…" she wasn't stalling, just over taken by the sight of her son. "His father...is Itachi Uchiha."

I had no idea how to respond. For a moment, I reeled on this information. Why on earth…

"I know what you're thinking, even with your face covered, you're easy to read." She looked at me with a smirk. "There's a lot you don't know about him…"

"The Masked Man came to us and told us somethings. Are they true?" Her face told me it was.

"Yes. What he left out was that he and another man, Shisui, tried to stop it. If Danzō had not taken Shisui's eye…"

"Are you saying Itach never intended to kill his clan?" She nodded. It confirmed Itachi had done it, but as a last resort. "Did he tell you this?"

"Yes." Hiroshi started fussing again. I knew that sound from Aurora,it meant he was hungry. She kind of gave a look at him, not knowing what to do.

"Erm...he wants fed."

"How do you know?" She asked, shifting to take her top off. I looked away, giving her some privately. "Tsh, what? Never seen a woman feed her baby before?"

"It's not that...anyway, I just know." She didn't need to know my personal life. "What else do you know about the Masked Man?"

"He's intent on taking on all of the nations. He's also manipulative, he's twisted Sasuke's mind…" I knew this, but it was good to have it confirmed. "Also, it's known that once you give him what he wants, you're no longer useful to him. He'll dispatch anyone he deems no longer useful."

That was chilling, knowing he was no doubt going to do that to Sasuke.

"You tried to make him leave, didn't you?" She cared about Sasuke, it was written on her face.

"He's hellbent on getting revenge on the Leaf...I did try, but he will not listen to anyone. If someone could get through to him…"

"You don't think Sasuke's evil?" She shook her head, watching her child again as he fed.

"No, his heart maybe in the dark right now, but he wasn't that way before Madara. If he hadn't twisted Itachi's intent, he might have come back."  
"What was his intent?"

"For him to return a hero. After killing him, Sasuke was supposed to return here…"

* * *

More questions followed, but she didn't know the Akatsuki's final plan. She knew they were gathering the Bijuu, but as far as she knew, it was to use their powers to threaten war upon the nations. Somehow, that was supposed to stop war from ever happening again.

She didn't know his full plan, but she did provide enough clues for us to know he was trying to build an army. We just weren't sure who he had in his arsenal.

"I wish I had more information, but that's all I have." Nina seemed upset she didn't have more to provide.

"No, you've done fine." I assured the blonde woman. "Our deal stands, you and your son have asylum here. However, until we know what you say is true, you will be under surveillance." She didn't seem to care, or if she did she hid it well.

"Why would I come all this way just to fuck everything up, un?" If she wasn't trying to stay calm for her nursing child, she may have chewed me out for that.

"Fair enough. Still, you were part of Akatsuki. Let's just say our trust for each other is shaky at best. For now, focus on your recovery for him." I looked pointedly at the boy in her arms. "He needs you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is where The Dove and The Crow and Last One will tie into each other a lot more. Please R&R!


	35. Chapter 35

Aurora's View:

Father and dad were pulled away from their normal jobs to prepare for an upcoming war. Neither one of them would tell me what it was about, saying I shouldn't worry about it. They were hardly home anymore, leaving me home alone most of the time. I hated that no one was home, the newer house still felt unfamiliar and with no one there, it felt cold.

If Naruto hadn't been sent off on a special mission, I'd ask him over, but he'd be gone for months. No one else seemed to have time either, always telling me "sorry, maybe next time." Even Shikamaru-nii told me no, who usually let me follow him even if I wasn't supposed to. He said I shouldn't be involved, I was still a kid after all.

"Come on, pup, it's not that bad." Pakkun jumped up to sit by me in the window. I had been sitting here most of the day, waiting for someone to come home. "'Sides, you're papas' are getting ready for a big fight. It doesn't mean they don't love you." Father had decided Pakkun was a good enough babysitter for the day, leaving the grumpy pug with me. He wasn't the best company, but he was someone to talk to.  
"I know…" but it didn't stop me from wanting them back..

"How 'bout this, since you can't go out on yer own, how 'bout I teach you something?" I was baffled by his offer, waiting to see what the pug was up to. He just scratched his ear and jumped off the windowsill. "Well, you coming?" I followed him outside, wondering what he was up too.

* * *

  
I watched him dig in the dirt for a second before a scroll was summoned in front of him. He also somehow summoned Bull with the scroll; I had no idea summons could summon others.

"Alright…" the pug nosed the scroll open, revealing two names written out in blood. "In order to make a contract, you gotta sign our scroll. Since you're already a pack member, you'll be able to use us a lot easier than other summons."

"Contract? For what?"

"A summoning jutsu of course. It's easy. Your father had it down in a day." I was reading the names on the scroll while he spoke. One was Sakumo Hatake and the other was my father.

"Pakkun, are you guys a family summon?" It made sense, most were passed down from generation to generation, but I didn't have the Hatake bloodline in me.

"Eh, sort of." He waved it off. "We never met Sakumo, but our parents did. Kakashi was our first master." Bull bark in agreement. "Though, he was twelve when he finally found the scroll."

"I'm not…"

"You'll be six in two days, you'll be fine." Pakkun assured me, but I wasn't so sure. "Alright, lets get your name in." Both dogs stared at me, waiting for me to do something, but I wasn't sure what. "Kid...you gotta use yer blood." I had wondered why the ink looked funny.

"M-my blood? How much?"

"Just prick yer finger. It'll be enough." The pug said it like it had been the most obvious thing in the world. I took one of my kunai out with a shaking hand, not really wanting to cut myself. I felt Bull's nose push my shoulder, trying to encourage me. I sighed, pricking the tip of my finger with the blade. The sting of it made me wince, but I guess I would have to get used to it. My signature wasn't perfect like fathers or Sakumo's, but it was legible at least.

"Good, now for the hard part." Pakkun stepped away from the scroll. "You gotta try it out." Bull gave me a big, sloppy kiss, happy I could summon him now.

"How do I do that?" I asked while wiping my face, getting the drool out of my eyes.

"First, you gotta control yer chakra. Have you been practicing that?" I bit my lower lip, hoping he didn't catch it from behind my mask. "Ya haven't have ya?" The pug sighed. "Can ya walk on water?"

"Walk on water?"

"Maybe we jumped the gun…" Bull whined at Pakkun's words. "Let's start from the beginning then..."

* * *

  
After a long lecture from Pakkun about chakra, he showed me what to do to climb trees without my hands. He did it with ease, sitting on a high branch and waiting for me.

"Come on, pup!" He called. How am I supposed to do this?! I don't have four legs!

"Pakkun...I'm not so sure…" It wasn't fear, but I knew my chakra could go haywire at anytime. I had little control over it, the seal had slowed down my progress over the two years I had it.

"You can do it." I watched him lay down, bored with my lack of skill. I hesitated, but decided to give it a whirl. I felt the air cool a bit around me as I tried to concentrate chakra to my feet. I ran straight at the tree, making sure with each step that the chakra was still balanced. However, once my foot made contact with the bark, it broke, giving way. I crashed hard on the ground, the chakra I build up discharging in a small burst of frost.

"Too much. Try again." The pug said lazily, nearly asleep.

"Hey! Don't fall asleep while training me!" I scolded him, but all I got was a scoff and a yawn. "Whatever…" having a dog as a teacher was the worst.

* * *

  
After a few hours, I almost gave up. The tree was now covered in frost, making it even more tricky to climb. Pakkun came down, complaining it was too cold.

"I can't…" I said defeated, falling back onto the grass as he sat by me.

"Eh, you're getting there. Yer also still very young. I'm impressed with the progress." He looked at the highest frost mark, which was close to the first branch, but not enough. It was so close...I was determined to get there. I stood back up and ran at the tree one more time.

The ice was making my chakra harder to attach to the tree, making me slip a little on the way up. With a huge burst, I was able to launch myself high enough to get to the branch. It took a second to realize I did it.

"Pakkun! I did it!" I cheered down at him.

"Nice, now come back down." I hadn't thought of that…I looked down, realizing how high up I was and grabbing the trunk of the tree.

"Um…" I was terrified of heights, so this was a bad situation. "I can't…" Bull whined, circling the tree to find an easy way down. By that time I was crying, scared of falling down.

"What is going on?" I heard a calm voice behind me and felt a hand on the top of my head. "Ma, the tree is no place for you to be." I turned and buried my face into father's flak jacket.

"I'm scared!" I sobbed. "I can't get down…"

"Hm, well you got up here right? You're able to get down the same way. However, I don't think the frost helps." He picked me up and effortlessly jumped down. "Maybe we should go with a smaller tree next time, eh?" He scolded Pakkun and Bull.

"I'm sorry…" but father just looked confused.

"Sorry? What for?" He put me down and knelt beside me.

"Getting stuck in the tree…" he wiped a tear off my cheek. "I…"

"Climbed a tree with only your chakra. That's not an easy thing to do at your age. I'm proud of you." He gave me an eye smile. "Good job." I beamed, happy I made him proud. "Now, why were you doing this?"

"Pakkun said I have to control my chakra to summon them." Father's face went back to its usual stoic look.

"Oh? And why would you need that? You're still pretty young…" he was looking at the pug.

"Better now than never. At least she'll learn it from us and not from a dusty old scroll in the back of a closet…" father glared, but I didn't understand.

"Hm...well unlike my old man, I don't hide things in the back of a closet...I'm also here to show the way." Father shot back, making the pug frown.

* * *

  
Father taught me a better way to climb trees with my chakra the next day. He showed me how to focus it a little better, lessening the frost on the tree. I wasn't a master at it like him, but I could get to the second branch of a smaller tree in the yard. This one wasn't as scary high as the other one. Still, I had trouble getting down and had to be rescued a few times.

"Alright, I think that's enough for today." He said as he helped guide me back down for the third time today. "Let's go out for lunch today. I think Iruka should be off by now."

"Ok!" I didn't know why he suddenly changed what we were doing today, but I was excited to spend time with both of them.

* * *

  
Dad was already at Ichiraku, waiting for us with ramen ready at the counter.

"There you are. What took you?"

"Ma, well someone is learning to climb trees." Father said as he sat down on the other side of me. "I'm not sure dogs are the best for teaching that." Dad gave him a look.

"You left her with Pakkun again, didn't you?"

"Pakkun said I had to learn chakra control to summon them." Dad glared at father, clearly mad about it.

"Eh…" father scratched the back of his head. I knew he was in for it later.

"Anyway...I hope I got your order right." Dad smiled at me, ignoring father while he sulked. He was talking about how he remembered I didn't like beef ramen, but didn't remember chicken was my favorite. Right now I didn't really care about the pork ramen in front of me.

"Um...why are we out tonight?" It wasn't Wednesday, so it wasn't our weekly ramen outing night. Something was up, dad always took me out for ramen when something bad had happened or someone was leaving.

"Maa, quick as ever." Father sighed. "Aurora, you're aware there is a war looming over us. I know you might not understand, but everyone that can fight must. Your dad and I have been called." The feeling that hit me, I couldn't describe it. Sadness? No...I couldn't figure it out. All I know is the rest of what father said sounded distant.

"You'll stay with Kuranai for the time." Was the last part I caught.

"Sweetheart, what is it?" Dad had caught onto my distress.

"Why do you have to go?" I knew why, but I couldn't lose both of them, not again.

"I told you why." I felt father's hand comb through my hair. "I know this is hard for you, but you must understand. Everyone has to help, even you." He gave me an eye smile. "Your mission is to help Kurenai with Mirai."

I didn't want that, but what choice did I have? I was a child...no one was going to listen to me.

* * *

  
Kakashi's View:

Aurora was angry with us. The moment we got home, she went to her room and shut herself in. Iruka said to leave her be for now, she was coping with the news. I knew how she felt, as much as we were needed, I wished Iruka could stay at least. If either of us should live, I wanted it to be him.

Iruka chose to go to bed, he had to leave at dawn for his mission. He was going off to the island Naruto was put on. He was to keep the blonde there, but wouldn't reach it for a month or so. I was going towards Suna to help with planning, but not until later in the day.

I stayed up to think about how to make this all up to Aurora. It click about an hour ago as to why she was so upset, it was her birthday. We were both leaving on the day we usually spent all day with her, no matter how busy we were. This year we would be gone, it must have been a devastating feeling. Maybe I could ask Kurenai to take her out for dango. It was asking a lot from the new mother.

"Kakashi?" I looked up to see Iruka was up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. I know he hated how he looked when he woke up, but I loved it. His nightshirt was askew, showing off a part of his right shoulder and his hair was a mess. _I'm gonna miss this…_

"Morning, beautiful." It was still late in the night, nowhere near time for him to be up. "What are you doing?" He was blushing a bit from my comment.

"You weren't there…" He must have rolled over and found an empty spot. "What's up?"

"Well, I figured out why Aurora was upset. It's her birthday." I looked at the clock, seeing it was about two am. It had been for two hours now.

"Ah hell…" Iruka pushed his hair back out of his face, frustrated he'd forgotten too. "I've been so busy...I can't believe I forgot…" he flopped onto the couch next to me.

"Guess we'll have to make it up to her."

"My thoughts exactly." I pulled him close, playing with his hair. "I was thinking of letting her get her ears pierced. What do you think?"

"That might earn her forgiveness." Iruka agreed. "It's gonna be a very late gift." At least he was trying to keep it light. It was unspoken, but there was a chance we wouldn't come home. In only a few hours we'd be called away from home, maybe for the last time.

"I'll be fine." Iruka turned in my arms to look at me. "Don't worry about me. Just focus on what…" I cut him off with a kiss. I felt him melt in my arms, needing confronted as much as I did.

"You'll still be on my mind." Didn't matter if he told me not to, I would worry anyway. "I will miss you too much." My tone let him know what I would miss the most about him. That earned a harmless slap on my chest for being lude.

"'Kashi…" the way he said it let me know he was already worried. "You're on the front lines, you'll be in more danger than I…" He put his forehead against mine.

"Maa...I'll be fine."

* * *

  
Aurora ignored me on the way to Kurenai's, visibly upset with me. I had asked what she wanted for breakfast, but she just shrugged. I even got us both up early for that, but I guess that was now my choice. Mochi for breakfast cheered her up a little, but she was still mad at me.

"I know why you're upset. It's not fair that we have to go, especially on your birthday." She gasped a little, she must have though we forgot. "I would never forget that. So, how about this; when we come back, I'll take you to get your ears pierced." Finally, a smile.

"Really?" Now she'd have something to look forward to instead of worrying the whole time.

"Promise." I held my hand out for her to take. "But first, I need you to help around here. You and other kids your age are now in charge of taking care of the younger ones. Can I trust you to be in charge of Mirai? She'll need someone to watch her."

"Ok…" she wasn't thrilled about being a babysitter. Younger kids just were not on her radar right now. This would be a good lesson for her to learn as well.

* * *

  
Aurora's View:

Kurenai and I waved father off from her porch. I wanted to see him off at the gate, but Mirai was napping. Apparently babies did that a lot and parents didn't like waking them up.

"Well, Miss Aurora, I hear it's your birthday." The red eyed lady smiled at me. "How about we go for some dango later?" I really didn't care that it was my birthday, I just wanted them to stay.

* * *

  
While Kurenai was cleaning, she asked me to check on Mirai. I went to where she said her room was, seeing the crib through the crack in the doorway. When I pushed the door open, the smell of baby powder nearly gagged me. Kurenai must have used too much.

I peered in between the bars of the crib to look at the baby. The tiny form dressed in a yellow onesie was sleeping peacefully. Mirai's cheeks were pink and squishy looking, making me want to poke them. I was able to put my hand through and poked one, making her stir.

Her tiny eyes opened a little, but she didn't seem to really see me. Her little hands made fists as she kicked out, whining a little.

"Oops…" I think I made her upset. Right then she let out a loud cry, alerting Kurenai. "Shhh, I'm sorry…" I tried but it was too late.

"Oh goodness, I'm coming." Kurenai was quick to attend to the baby, calming her down. "There we are. Someone's just a little cranky is all." She assured it was not my doing, but it kind of was.

* * *

  
I quickly learned babies were unpredictable. While Kurenai was folding laundry and telling me a story about how she and father were once classmates, Mirai started crying again, pulling the woman away again. I didn't mind, knowing babies couldn't take care of themselves, but it was annoying. The story was just getting really good.  
The third time it happened was when I was helping put soap in the laundry machine. It scared me, making me spill everywhere. I felt awful for it, and tried to clean it up while she tended to Mirai. I accidentally hit the soap bottle, spilling it everywhere. Every time I tried to wipe it up it only created more bubbles.

"No…" I tried to use towels but it was too much. I felt the tears of frustration forming.

"It's ok, sweetie." Kurenai appeared by me, Mirai tucked in her arm as she grabbed a mop. "Accidents happen. Don't fret over it." _How was she so calm?_  
Kurenai's calmness continued to surprise me throughout the day. She never once raised her voice or got mad, even when Mirai started crying uncontrollably. This forced the plans for going out to change, so she offered to make a cake with me. Mirai kept pulling Kurenai away, so it didn't go as well as it should have.

The cake we made burned, but she just shrugged, cut the burnt parts off and continued on. She made it into a perfect dome, creating a strawberry top made of cake. I was impressed that she could improvise without having to really think about it.

"Happy birthday!" She smiled, lighting the six candles she placed on it. My wish was to be as calm as her.

Kurenai let me hold Mirai while she cleaned up. She was a lot heavier than she looked and way squimier. I held her so her head was on my shoulder, otherwise she'd squirm away. _I don't think she likes me…_  
"I think she likes you." Kurenai told me when she came to take her back.

"Really?" The way she tried to get away said otherwise. She nodded, holding Mirai so she could see me.

"You did really well with her today, thank you. I know it's different, having to stay here with me and Mirai, but you've been a big help." She brushed my hair back a little. I have no idea how I helped out, but I was happy to help her out.

* * *

  
Kurenai and the other mom's in the village took it upon themselves to make sure there was some sort of normal in the village. Shikamaru's mom decided that the academy students had been on break long enough. She and some of the other mom's agreed to start teaching classes again, outside of the academy class rooms. Our class was unlucky and got the most strict of the mom's, Shikamaru's mother. Yoshino-sensei was very strict, scaring the heck out of us most of the time. She even scared Sora, who never seemed to fear anything. She drilled us in kunai training, making sure none of us went home without being sore. Other classes were taught by the older kids, who weren't anything like her. She was the worst of the teachers.

Yuri, Sora and I just laid in the field nearby after class, too tired to move. The other kids were dragged home already but their mom's, leaving us alone.

"I can't feel my toes…" Yuri complained, spreading out in the grass. "Ow…" stretching hurt too.

"My fingers are numb…" I agreed, trying to get feeling back in them.

"My everything hurts." Sora rolled onto his stomach, burying his face in the grass. "Why does Yoshino-sensei have to be so hard on us?" It was muffled by the grass.

"She's mean…" Yuri had been yelled at today from missing the targets. She cried, which only made sensei even more mad and forced her to run laps. Iruka-sensei would never have done that.

"Yeah…" But we couldn't really stop her.

"Hey...isn't that Midori?" Sora sat up, gaining all of our attention. I sat up too, seeing Midori was heading into the forest. She seemed a little off, but then again we hadn't seen her since the haircutting incident. We thought she left after class.

"What's she doing?" Yuri leaned on me, looking over my shoulder.

"Come on…" Sora got up to follow her. I sighed, pulling Yuri behind to keep up. She was scared of the forest, claiming there were monsters in there.  
We caught up to Sora, but he looked lost. He turned back to us and shrugged.

"It's like...she just disappeared!" Sora waved his arms around, I think trying to indicate Midori was just there. "I ducked behind a tree to not be seen and then...poof!"

"No one just disappears…" I told him, looking around.

"I told you! The forest witch took her and is going to eat her!" Yuri shreaked. Sora had to cover her mouth to keep her from scaring off whoever was around.

"Come on...there's no witches…" But this was part of the Nara clan's forest. The deer here had a weird connection to the clan, so maybe there was magic here.

"Maybe the ground finally swallowed her up." Sora joked.

"If only…" Yuri huffed at me for that, but I wasn't the one who started it.

"Come on, she's mean but she doesn't deserve to go missing…" Yuri scolded us.

"Maybe she went home a different way. Come on, we can report it to someone at least." I waved her off, trying to let her know we were only joking.

* * *

  
The next day went pretty much the same, only this time some of the class was acting off. Midori was in a daze along with her two friends. Another boy in class had the same look, but sensei didn't seem to notice. She was focused on the fact that they were not misbehaving. Sora and I exchanged looks, knowing something was off.

We tried to follow Midori after class, but we lost her again. This time, she even had others following her and we still lost her.

"Ok...where did they all go?" Sora was frustrated, but there wasn't anything to do.

"We should tell sensei…" Yuri hadn't stepped away from the tree were were hiding behind. "Maybe she'll know."

"Or she'll get mad we went off into the forest." Sora had a point, sensei didn't really listen to us.

"We should tell someone…" I agreed that this was something bad.

"Come on, I know who will listen!" I took off, hoping they would both follow me.

* * *

  
Kurenai was quiet while we told her what was going on. She was the only one who didn't scoff at children when they told them stories. This time though, it wasn't a made up story about the forest witch.

"So, Midori and the others went into the forest and disappeared?" She asked, trying to understand what we saw. "There's not a secret clubhouse there?"

"I checked…" Sora told us he went back to check yesterday but didn't find anything.

"Hm...let me talk to the others and see if they've seen anything strange. I'm sure Midori's mother has a clue to this mystery." Kurenai smiled at us.

* * *

  
Sora, Yuri and I decided to watch the edge of the forest the next day, to see what was going on. Since class wasn't on weekends, there shouldn't be anyone but us here. So far, only a deer had come out to investigate us. He didn't stay long, just stared at us with it's black eyes for a while before running off.

"Ugh...nothing…" Sora was bored, lying under a tree and plucking grass. "Maybe they were messing with us."

"Maybe." It wasn't beneath Midori to do something like that. "But why would the other boy from class go too? I thought she didn't like Kino…"

"Who knows." Sora got up. "Well, guess it's time to call it…"

"Wait...there!" Yuri pointed. "There they are." We looked to see what she was pointing at. There in the distance was a group of seven of our classmates, all led by Midori, going into the forest.

"What the…"

"Come on!" Sora took off, leaving us behind again.

* * *

  
Sora kicked the dirt, angry we lost them again. There was no explanation for where they went, this time they disappeared in a clearing, no trees to go hide in or bushes, just grass and wildflowers.

"This is really weird…" I didn't like what was going on, something felt very off. "We should leave…" a feeling of dread was taking over me.

"Aurora, we can't just…"

"Hey guys…" Midori appeared behind us, making Yuri scream. "What are you doing?" Her voice was void of its usual snobbish tone.

"Um...we came out to pick flowers." I tried to cover, but she moved closer to us, walking in a weird jerky way. "Sora...are you doing that?" She moved like his puppets.

  
"N-no…" He was just as freaked out.

"Run." I told them, taking off with Sora in the opposite way and back the way we came. Yuri followed behind, but she was too far behind us.

* * *

  
Once back out of the forest, we quickly realised Yuri wasn't with us. We tried to circle back, but we couldn't find her.

"Yuri!" I called while Sora climbed up a tree to look around. "See her anywhere?" I asked as he pulled himself onto a branch.

"Nope…" Sora sighed, just as distraught as I was. "She was right behind us, what happened?" He wondered out loud.

"I should have grabbed her hand…" She always got lost, why didn't I help her? "We have to…"

"What are you two doing out here!?" We froze, knowing that voice all too well. Yoshino-sensei had been alerted we were here. _Must have been the deer..._

"Sensei, somethings wrong with our classmates!" Sora jumped down from the tree, landing funny, but getting up quickly. "They keep wandering off into the woods and…

"If anyone was out there, I would know...get going, now!" She was not going to listen.

* * *

  
Sora and I went to Kurenai, telling her everything. However, we weren't met with the same care as before. This time, she scolded us.

"You two need to leave it alone. Let us take care of it." She meant the adults.

"But…"

"Aurora, Sora, I know you two want to help, but I can't let you two walk into danger like that. Stay out of that forest and stay out of the investigation." This left Sora and I distraught. No one was going to help us right now. So far, no one had gone missing so it wasn't a huge concern, but now...

"Why won't you listen!?" I had had enough of no one listening. "Our classmates are being brainwashed or something and no one seems to care! Why won't you care?!" Mirai started to cry, making Kurenai glare at me.

"That's enough. Sora, it's time for you to go home. Aurora, inside." She sent me to my temporary room for the rest of the night.

I glared at the wall, angry no one was concerned about my friend. Yuri went missing right before Sora and my eyes, and no one cares. I decided that if no one was going to do anything that I would.


	36. Chapter 36

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has been re-written as of 03/2020

Yuri-chan and the other kids were found the next morning, all still in the same dazed state. Classes were cancelled again, the fear of whatever was going on with the children spreading to more finally got the Jonin’s attention. It was too late though, it seemed everyone but Sora, a few classmates, and I weren’t under a spell.  
We couldn’t track what was happening anymore though, Kurenai had me on lock down and Sora’s aunt went “full crazy mother mode,” according to him. He wasn’t allowed to leave his house either, so we had to resort to a different way to talk to each other. Somehow, Sora got ahold of a messenger pigeon and we used it to write short notes. Unfortunately, there was a reason he was able to catch it. The stupid bird had trouble telling if the window was open or not and flew into it all the time.

“Aurora, I thought we talked about leaving the window open for the bird.” Kurenai sighed when the sound of it hitting the window woke up Mirai.

“It is open, it hit the otherside.” I explained, putting the dizzy bird into its personal recovery box. “He’s ok.” Just...stupid. I took the note off its leg and tried to decipher Sora’s bad handwriting.

AUNTIE IS CATCHING ON, CAN  
BAKA HATO STAY WITH YOU?

I had no idea where to keep it, but what choice did I have. He was all we had.

“Kurenai, can Hato stay with us for a while?” I heard her hum in thought.

“There’s an old rabbit cage in the back, I guess you can keep him there for a while, but he can’t stay forever.” For now, that would have to work. It was better than a shoe box at least.

* * *

  
Nothing new happened for months, at least from within the house; it was pure torcher not being allowed to leave without an adult with me. Kurenai was too good at catching me trying to sneak out. I thought I had the upper hand once when Mirai was fussing. Turns out, she had a clone taking care of her, the real Kurenai was waiting below the window ready to catch me. Since then, she’d set more harmless traps around the house to catch me. I had to figure out a way out, Sora and I needed to see if Yuri was ok and figure out this mystery.

We had tried to send Hato to Yuri-chan, but the bird ended up sitting in a tree all day, making it nearly impossible to get him back. We just got lucky that a crow tried to attack him and he flew back into Sora’s place. We would have called her too, but both of us forgot to get her number before classes were disbanded. We were both worried that something bad had happened, and I had this feeling that something really bad was coming.

A thump against the window told me Hato was back, but this time he landed on the outside sil instead of hitting it head first. The note he held from Sora was about another escape plan, but it was doomed to fail too. I hadn’t figured out how to disable the newest traps she’d set, so there was no escape unless I could get to the front door.

I CAN’T YET, NO WAY OUT  
TRAPS ARE TOO GOOD

  
“Ok, Hato, take this to Sora. SORA.” I said his name slowly, holding the pigeon out the window. I let him go, but he didn’t fly immediately and nearly hit the ground before catching on he should fly. “Baka…” I watched him land in the grass and sit there. He’d take off eventually.

* * *

  
An hour later, Mirai was crying again and had Kurenai’s full attention. She had been up all night with the baby, trying to get her to calm down. I guess babies were sometimes fussy for no reason, but it did give me an idea. Kurenai was too tired to keep track of me at all times today, I just had to wait until Mirai started up again.  
I quietly went into the living room, where Mirai was quietly playing with her socks. Kurenai was nowhere to be seen, giving me the chance to make Mirai upset.

“Sorry, Mirai-chan, but I’ve gotta see if my friend is ok.” I told her, brushing her hair back and kissing the top of her head. I took the sock from her, stuffing it under a pillow away from her, making her pout, but she didn’t cry; so I took the other sock from her, which made her wail. I hated being mean to her, but she was the perfect distraction.

“Not again…” I heard Kurenai from the kitchen. I let her see me play with a rattle for Mirai before disappearing back into the hall, making sure Mirai had her full attention. Finally, I was able to get to the door and slip out without setting off any alarms.

* * *

  
“Sora!” I called up as quietly as I could. His apartment just had to be on the third floor. I thought as I tossed another pebble at what I hoped was his bedroom window. Finally, the window opened, but it wasn’t Sora, it was his younger cousin.

“Who you?” the three year old “whispered” down.

“Em...a friend of Sora’s. Is he here?” He disappeared for a second, loudly “whispering” to Sora to that someone was at the window. This time, Sora showed up holding the kid.

“Aurora?”

“I got out, come on! I don’t know how long we have before Kurenai catches on.” In that time Sora had turned back around to set his cousin down and talk to him, shushing him when he got too loud when he asked him to keep a secret

“No, you can’t come with us. I promise to make it up to you, just don’t tell auntie…” Sora said as he slid down the rain spout. “I know where you keep your gameboy!” It was an empty threat, but the three year old took it to heart.

* * *

  
Sora and I didn’t make it too far before we were caught. We had been careful to stay in the alleyways, but it got harder to do in the newer part of the village. Not everything was finished and there weren’t very many places to hide, exposing us when we passed a pottery shop.

“Hey! You two, where your parents, un?” Sora and I stopped when a blonde woman came after us from the shop. She had a baby swaddled in a holster, tucked into her right arm, but it didn’t slow her down one bit.

“We...um…” I faltered, but Sora was quick to cover.

“We’re heading home right now!

“Really? And they were ok with letting you two out on your own?” She raised an eyebrow, seeing through our lie. She sighed, debating on what to do with us. “Come on you two, where are you really going?"

“We’re trying to see our friend. She was one of the kids that got...hypnotized or whatever.” I explained, not wanting this woman to make a scene.

“I see. And this friend of yours lives where? I’m guessing not anywhere near here, un.” She had a strange speech pattern, making me wonder where she was from. “Make you two a deal, I’ll go with you and pretend to be your guardian .”

“And in return?” Sora asked, wondering why she wanted to help.

“I need a pair of helpers to set up my shop.” She grinned. “And I think I found two willing volunteers. Unless, you just want me to take you home right now.” She had us, there was no way out at this point. If we ran, she could obviously catch us and drag us back to her shop to wait until someone came to get us.

“Fine. We accept.” Sora make a face, but agreed as well.

“Before we head off, I’m Nina. And you two are…?”

“I’m Aurora and this is Sora.” Nina looked at me funny, but quickly smiled again.

“Nice to meet you two. Now then, shall we?”

* * *

  
Sora wasn’t happy we had been found out, but it was better having Nina than his auntie or Kurenai. She seemed nice and wasn’t adamant about keeping us locked up inside.

“So, why are you helping us?” I finally asked. “Don’t you have...well, a baby to care about?”

“I do, but I also can’t let two kids wander around without supervision.” She tightened her hold on her baby, making him coo softly.

“Is it a girl?” Sora asked, trying to peak at their face from Nina’s right side.

“No, he’s a boy.” She laughed. “Though he is pretty enough to pass as a girl. His name is Hiroshi.” Nina stopped and knelt down to us to show us his face. She was right, he was cute and his lashes made him look like a baby girl. His cheeks looked like Mirai’s too, squishy and pink. I couldn’t help it, wanting to know if he felt the same, and gently poked his cheek. He didn’t fuss like Mirai had, instead he kind of smiled.

“So...where’s his dad?” Sora asked, sounding unsure if he should ask. Nina hid her eyes with her hair for a minute, upset by the question. “I-I didn’t mean to...I’m sorry.” Sora quickly backtracked.

“It’s ok. You didn’t know.” Nina gave a heavy sigh, looking back up at us. Her blue eyes looked wet, like she wanted to cry but was holding it back. “He...isn’t here anymore. He died protecting this village.” I noticed she hadn’t said his name, but let it go. It must be hard not having someone you loved never come home. “Anyway, don’t you two have a personal mission to go on?” She poked my forehead and then Sora’s. Somehow, that felt so familiar but I didn’t know why.

* * *

  
Up until we got to the gate, Nina seemed to be on board with us going to Yuri’s house, but once it was in view she stopped, taking a hold of my hand and pulling us back.

“I’m sorry...I know I said I would take you, but I can’t.”

“But you promised…” Sora started, but she cut him off.

“I know, I know. But I can’t leave...and without anyone to guide you, you can’t either. I assumed they were in the village, not outside of it.”

“We...should have mentioned she lives on a farm.” Sora and I felt bad for not telling her that part, but we figured she would have stopped us right at her shop if we said.

“But we’ve come this far! We can’t just stop here!”

“Sora, Nina’s right. We can’t leave without a Jonin guide and none of them are going to help us right now. They’re busy doing...stuff.” I had no idea what they were doing. Mostly keeping the village running and safe I guess.

“But what about…”

“I think I have the answer to that.” Nina interrupted him again. She removed her fingerless glove with her teeth and pulled something out of her pocket. “It’s not to be placed anywhere near fire or heat, but this should help you.” She opened her hand and a clay dove sat in her palm.

* * *

  
Nina helped us send the clay bird off, making sure it was tied to us so it would return to us, before telling us we had to go back home now.

“I don’t want you getting into trouble, un. Come on, it’s getting late.” She took Sora’s hand to guide him away. The sun had long since set, the full moon just peeking over the Hokage monument. “I’m sure your friend will be fine…” As she said that, someone landed in front of us. They were in ANBU gear and didn’t feel friendly.

“There you are!” I heard Kurenai as she came around the corner carrying Mirai, Sora’s aunt not far behind. Kurenai knelt in front of us, checking us over to make sure we weren’t hurt.

“I found them running through the village…” Nina tried, but Sora’s auntie gave her a death stare.

“Shut up! You of all people...how dare you take our children!” Sora’s aunt was as pleasant as usual. “Do you realize what could have happened?”

“Yes, which is why I followed them. Look, I get wanting you to protect them, but locking kids up inside isn’t going to solve it, un. I know I should have alerted you about them, I just figured if someone was with them they could get a bit of freedom.” Nina didn’t back down from her, blaming his aunt for our actions. “No one likes being caged in…”

“I thank you for watching over them and stopping them from leaving the village.” Kurenai stood up, making Mirai fuss. “They’re a handful...but you kept them safe. What do we…”  
“Don't worry, their debt is to help in the shop, that is if it’s alright with you, un?” Nina looked toward the baffled woman, who was in disbelief that Kurenai stood up for a stranger. “I can escort them back and forth if it helps.”

“Fine.” Sora’s aunt was short with us. She took Sora’s hand and was about to lead him away when the ground trembled and the moon became much brighter, like it was daytime.

“What the…” Nina said as Hiroshi started crying, scared of what was going on. Sora looked up into the bright light first, his eyes changing to a weird swirly purple.

“Sora?!” I was pulled away by Nina as tree roots started sprouting from the ground.

“Whatever you do, don’t look at the moon.” The blonde told me and lead me back towards her shop. I watched as Kurenai and Mirai fell to the same fate as Sora, unable to move from her spot.

On the way there, there was a window that reflected the moon, which was enough to catch both of us in the jutsu. We both stopped, unable to move. I felt a sharp pinch on my leg and was pulled from the spell just long enough to see part of the roots looping itself around me. I looked over to Nina to see her being pulled away by a different root, completely wrapped up like a mummy. I struggled, trying to get out of it as it covered me completely.

“No!” I screamed, trying my hardest to tear it open, but was unable to grab ahold of anything. I knew I had torn my hands up pretty badly, but the pain was starting to fade away. I started to feel really tired and found I really didn’t want to fight anymore.

* * *

  
I woke up with a start, flinging my pillow off of my bed. _Wait...when did I get into my room?_ Shouldn’t Kurenai have picked me up? _No wait, I wasn’t at her house. Who’s house was this?_ It wasn’t Kurenai’s or my house. _Wait we were in the street...Nina-Chan!_

I quickly got up and ran out the my room, running for the front door when some on caught me by the collar of my shirt.

“Ne, where are you going? You haven't even dressed yet.” A woman said, turning me around to face her. “What’s the hurry? Is there an event at school today?” She asked as she brushed my hair back. She felt so familiar...

“Who…”

“Go on, get dressed.” She sighed, turning me around and gently pushing back toward my room.

* * *

  
I only obeyed her to get away from her. I don’t know who she was, but I seemed to be staying with her. She was beautiful with dark bluish-black hair and deep purple eyes, but I know I had never seen her before. She even dressed differently than most people in Konoha, so I know she wasn’t from here. The soft yellow yukata she wore looked like it cost more than a normal one and the cream haori she wore over it had silky baby blue flowers and butterflies on the sleeves. Even her pale green obi looked silky, making me think she might be a princess. So, who was she?

I kept trying to come up with it as I looked for my clothes. I guess she didn’t know I liked shirts with masks attached, because there wasn’t a single one in any of the drawers. I finally found a high collared, pale green yukata styled shirt with black pants. It was a winter one, but it covered my face a little so I went with it.   
I paid more attention to the house too, figuring out it had to be a newer house in the village. It had rounded walls and a curved hallway, which I guess was the style of houses now. 

“Tsuki! You’re going to be late now! What are you doing?” The dark haired woman called to me again. I went back out, only for her to push me towards the door. “First you’re too early...and what are you wearing now?” She gave me a disappointed look. “There’s no time now, off with you.” She sighed, leading me out the door. “Have a good day!”

I still wondered though, when did school start up again? _And, who was Tsuki?_

* * *

  
The day was already really weird, but I had no idea it was just the start. Everyone at school was acting normal, like nothing had happened in the village or seemed concerned about the war. Yuri, Midori and every other kid were fine...at least sort of. Midori was acting nice, Yuri was being cold, the bunny hat girl was talking a lot and Sora...he wasn’t pranking anyone. He always did something, even if it was just a paper aeroplane, but today he was quiet. It was a nice change, but it got old fast.

“Tsukiko, care to demonstrate a shadow clone jutsu? You have yet to pay any attention, you must know it all then.” The worst was Dad. He acted like he didn’t know me, like I wasn’t his daughter and just another student. “Oi, did you hear me?” I realized he was talking to me. _Oh, I’m Tsukiko…?_

“I...sure.” Everyone was watching me as I went up front. Iruka-sensei didn’t feel warm, instead he felt intimidating in a very bad way. I made the hand signs, making a near perfect clone and surprising him and the class. The only problem with her was her obi was tied to the left, not the right.

“Not bad...now focus, will you?” With that he sent me back to my seat. I wanted to ask Sora if he noticed anything odd too, but that wasn’t Sora next to me. I came to the realization that one here was real.

* * *

  
After class, I decided to explore the village and find out what was really going on. Everyone seemed to be back in the village again, but there was something off about each of them. Hinata wasn’t shy and sweet anymore and acted more like Ino, while Ino acted like how Hinata should be. They weren’t the only ones that were opposite, but they were the most drastic I had found as of yet. 

I found father as well and trailed him for a while, finding out he was acting more like Gai-sensei than himself. I stopped following him when I saw someone new, deciding to follow them instead. He felt familiar, but then again so did dad and father and they were not themselves. Whoever this was, it wasn’t really them.

“You’ve been following me for sometime. Can I help you?” He finally stopped when the streets became a little less crowded, turning to look at me. I couldn’t believe it…

“S-Sasuke-nii?” I remembered him, but his face had been a blur anymore, but I recognized his voice.

“Tsk, did you get lost again? Come on.” He held his hand out for me to take. “Everything is going to be fine.” I almost took his hand, but what he said…

“No...you’re not real!” I smacked his hand away and ran past him to get away. I pushed through the crowd, hearing Sasuke call to me but he seemed to give up after a while. I stopped running when I reached the lake in town. I fell into the grass, gripping at it in frustration. I had no idea where I was and no one here was real...what was I going to do?

“Hello there.” I tensed up, having no idea who was behind me. “Are you alright?” I didn’t recognize his voice, so I didn’t look up. I felt the person sit next to me in the grass, but pretended they weren’t there. “Are you hurt?”

“No…” I wanted him to leave.

“May I ask why you’re near the Uchiha compound? You’re allowed of course, but you’re the only one here that doesn’t seem happy.” I finally looked up when he said that. The Uchiha compound was destroyed in the fight with Pain, not only that but no one lived there in years. So what was this guy talking about?

“That’s not…” I stopped when I saw his face. He looked a lot like Sasuke, but his hair was longer and a little lighter and he had deep lines on his face. He wore a strange red and black cloak but had taken it off to put around me, in case I was injured. He looked deep into my eyes, like he was reading my mind to find out who I was.

“Hn, I don’t believe we have met before, I’m Itachi.” No way...now I know for sure I’m not in my world anymore, Itachi was dead. Father had mentioned it in passing to dad, thinking I hadn’t heard him, but here he was, talking to me in the grass by the old compound. “What are you doing out here alone?”

“He’s acting weird...everyone is.” Even if he wasn’t real, he was the only one willing to listen. “No one is acting like themselves.” Itachi stayed quiet as I explained what was happening.  
“I see. You’re concerned that everyone is acting differently after coming back from a non-existent war. I know it may seem that way, but it's possible something happened that made them change?” I guess it made sense. “You don’t have a concept of what war is like, but it does change a person.”

“But, can they change someone so much that they forget you?” He was making sense, except it didn’t explain dad. “Dad doesn’t know who I am…”

“Forgive me, but who is your dad?”

“Iruka and...” That’s when it clicked, in this world, they might not be together. “I mean…” Itachi raised an eyebrow at me.

“I don’t know who Iruka-san is, but he sounds important to you. Have you asked why he doesn’t seem to know you?” Itachi asked, but seemed to know I hadn’t. “Maybe that’s your next step. Go find Iruka-san, you can come back to report to me if you want.” He teased, which was odd for someone I just met.

* * *

  
I found dad at his old apartment, grading papers alone. I guess father hadn’t come home just yet. Dad didn’t seem too happy to see me when he opened the door, but his face softened a little when he saw how upset I was.

“Tsukiko-chan, what are you doing here? Is something wrong?” From here I could see his place was a mess, not just from papers from school, but there was trash strewn about. Dad was usually a pretty neat person...

“I...do you remember me?” It was so strange to ask, but it’s all I had.

“Is this a prank? Cause if it is…” I didn’t mean to, I didn’t want to, but I started crying. He wasn’t the dad I remembered at all. “Tsukiko...hey, don’t cry.” He knelt down and put a hand on my shoulder. “I don’t know what you mean, but of course I…”remember” you. You’re one of my students. Should I walk you home?” I shook my head, deciding to just leave and not waiting for him to catch on. I used my chakra like father had taught me and ran away as fast as I could.  
I had to know if my father knew me, if he remembered me and knew who I really was.

* * *

  
I found him in the middle of town with Gai-Oji and Tenzo-Oji. Father was unusually loud, teasing Gai and challenging him to a match. Tenzo was off to the side, listening to them but not taking a part of their rock, paper, scissors match. I don’t know who won, but after Gai snuck away, going a different direction then father and Tenzo-Oji. It made it a little easier to follow him, but I had to be careful that Tenzo didn’t sense me.

Once they were off the main street, I made my move to go to him, but stopped when father turned to Tenzo. He pulled his mask down and...kissed him?! _N-no way!_

“Tsukiko!” I hear someone yell from above me. The woman from this morning landed in front of me, scaring the heck out of father and Tenzo. “What are you doing out so late? You didn’t come home from school and I get a call from your teacher that you’re out in the village alone, asking people strange questions. What is going on with you today?” She had her hands on her hips, lips pursed in anger. 

“I...I.” What was I going to tell her, that she wasn’t real? She was right here. “I’m so confused. I’m not Tsukiko! I don’t know you!” I told her, overwhelmed by what was going on.

“Er...is everything ok over here?” Father had put his mask back up, coming up behind the woman.

“Ne...just kids being kids.” The woman suddenly seemed embarrassed she was yelling. “Sorry to have disturbed you, Kakashi-san.” So she knew him.

“Heh, it’s alright.” Tenzo didn’t seem as happy as he used to be, kind of void of any life.

The woman took my hand, pulling me away as I came to the conclusion that father wasn’t my father in this world.

* * *

  
At what was now home, the woman and I sat on the back porch. I sat away from her, but she looked hurt that I didn’t sit with her.

“Ne, Tsuki, is something bothering you?” She turned to me again, her eyes still had a sadness to them. She reached a hand out for me, hoping I would come to her. 

“No…” I wanted my real life back, but I couldn’t have it. This was my life now...with a woman I didn’t know. She moved and pulled me into her lap, holding me tightly. No matter how much I wanted her to let go, I still found myself wanting to hold her tighter too. _Why did she feel so safe?_

“You can tell me anything you know. I am your mother, I might have some insight for you.” My mom? But she was dead too...right?

“I don’t feel so good…” I wanted to go home, but this was home. Mom kissed my forehead and took me to “my” room, laying me down and feeling my forehead.

“You feel ok to me.” She smiled softly. 

“I...thought you were dead.” I blurted out.

“I’m dead?” She touched over her heart. “I do not feel dead. How can I be if I’m right here?”

“I...I don’t know! That’s the thing...I woke up in this world and nothing's right. I’m supposed to be at Kurenai’s with her and Mirai...I…” I left her when I promised to protect her. I messed up, this had to be a punishment. “Genjutsu…” That was it, it had to be.

“Genjutsu?” Mother laughed. “If you are in a genjutsu, it must be a very powerful one to bring me back.” She teased me. “Tsuki-chan, are you sure that this world is so bad? I am here after all.”

“It’s not...it’s just not my world…” Or was it? I was starting to question it all again. Mom gave me a look, poking my nose.

“Why is that?” Her voice was soothing, making me forget what I was trying to do. “It could be your world. We can be together here, you and me against the world.” She put her nose against mine. “How does that sound?"

“I guess…that could be fun.” I saw the light around us brighten for a second, covering me in a warmth I couldn’t resist. “Maybe it isn’t so bad.” Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew it was a bad idea to give in, but it melted away when she hugged me again.  
Maybe this world wasn’t so bad after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hato: mean pidgeon or dove


	37. Chapter 37

Aurora’s View:

I don’t know how long the dream lasted. Maybe hours, days, I’m not sure, but in the dream time seemed to go faster. 

Ebisu was no longer our special teacher, seeing as he took over Konohamaru’s team, meaning we actually learned things. Our new teacher was amazing and apparently was Sasuke’s distant cousin. Even though he was an Uchiha, he didn’t really act like one. Out of all of them he was the most friendly and didn’t really seem to care that he was from a prestigious clan. 

Shisui-sensei taught us how to hone our skills and trust in ourselves that we could do anything. Yuri was even able to control her lightning ability within a month, hitting targets dead now. I was learning to control my powers as well, by creating what he called a chakra reserve. If I focused hard enough, I could store my excess chakra away for later use. It helped control the flare ups so I didn’t freeze everything I touched when I got mad. Because of him, we were granted early graduation within a year!

Mother was amazing, showing me how to use my Yuki bloodline. There were these mirrors that she could make out of ice and disappear into them; I wanted to learn so badly but it was too advanced for me still. She promised that soon I could do everything she could.  
She told me she was proud of me for graduating early, telling me we would go for dango when the world started to shift. Color started fading around us, leaving black and white outlines of things around us, before she too became an outline. The last thing to fade was her smile before everything when bright white before going black.

* * *

  
The cocoon around me started to crack, disintegrating like an old leaf as it brought me back down to the ground. Everything seemed unreal, like it had in the weird dream world, only this time I didn’t wake up at home. I looked around in a daze, seeing everyone slowly get out of the pod looking things and looking just as confused. _What happened to us? What was that tree thing that attacked? Where am I?_ I think I was in the village still, but it wasn’t a part I was aware about.

It occurred to me I had no idea where I had ended up after being pulled away from Nina. That’s right, we were in the streets and then...I’m not sure what happened after that. Wait... Mirai!? I remembered I was supposed to protect her.  
  
“Hey, you ok kid?” A man asked as he knelt in front of me. “It’s gonna be ok, do you know where your parents went?” The man seemed nice enough, but something told me this might not be real either. 

“No…” I backed away, afraid that this was still a dream and he would try to convince me that this world was real. “S-stay away!” I ran off, hearing the man and another person call to me. Someone tried to catch me, but I was able to kick my way out of their grasp before they got a good hold on me. I won’t let it happen again! I wanted my father and dad...my _real_ parents! 

_Wait, what if I had different parents again?_ My vision was blurred by tears as I ran towards the village gates.   
If this was the real world, the war had finished and shinobi would start returning, right? If I stayed by the gates, I was bound to run into my father.

* * *

I stayed hidden in a bush near the village entrance, to stay away from the Jonin that were checking for survivors. I didn’t want to be taken to the shelters by someone who wasn’t real.

I knew it wouldn’t be an emedate thing, but I didn’t think it would take more than the rest of the day for shinobi to return. I was wrong. I was well into the night before some returned. I couldn’t tell who they were, but they didn’t sound familiar to me. I waited well into the night, trying to force myself to stay awake, but failed, falling asleep before I saw anyone I knew.

* * *

Kakashi’s View:

The return home was bittersweet. Sasuke was whisked away the second we stepped in the village to be locked up in T&I headquarters. He would be treated for his wounds first at the hospital, but for the time being he was to stay behind bars. Of course, my heart was torn two ways. On one hand, he saved the world, on the other...he’d done a lot of damage on his path of revenge. I believed his heart had changed, but now he had to prove it to the world. 

Naruto was also pulled away too, protesting all the way that he was fine and wanted to talk to Sasuke. As if they hadn’t done enough talking...both were lucky to be alive. Between the two of them, Naruto looked the worst. The fact that both were able to walk here was impressive to say the least.  
I watched as Sakura dragged him away, telling him how annoying he was. I was thankful it was the dead of night and we didn’t have a welcome party waiting for us at the gates. I don’t think it would have gone this well otherwise.  
My heart was filled with joy though. All my team was back together and safe, back in the village; the family we had created was full once more. I had so many things to be grateful for…

I was pulled from these happy thoughts when I heard a soft noise. I followed where I heard it, finding a small form in a bush near the gates. I pushed the leaves out of the way to see who was there.

“Aurora?” I said softly, hoping it would wake her. She continued to sleep, but a look of worry crossed her face, like she was having a nightmare. Gently, I fished her out of the tangled branches and held her close, resting her head on my shoulder. She didn’t stir, which was odd for her. “What are you doing out here?” I asked the sleeping girl, picking stray leaves from her hair. She had me worried, but it could wait for the time being. Tsunade had arrived just a bit before us, already calling me into her office. _Why was it always work with her?_

* * *

  
Tsunade of course had called me in about the position of Hokage. I was the next in line, hand picked by Tsunade. Really though, I did want to do it, but I was just...hesitant. There was a lot of pressure with that title and I didn’t really like being under that kind of pressure.

“You’re first call as Hokage is what to do with Sasuke.” She informed me, sitting heavily in her chair. Both of us were beyond exhaustion, but there were things still to do. We could rest tomorrow.

“I believe I have come up with a plan for him.” I told her as I tucked Aurora in on the couch. “Because of him, the Infinite Tsukuyomi was undone. Without his help, the world would have been lost completely. Once things settle a bit and are talked through, I decree that he be pardoned.” Honestly, he should be in prison, but I did understand how lost he had been. That, and I secretly thanked him for taking out Danzo, despite the fact in was considered a murder.

“I agree, but it won’t sit well with others.” Tsunade said as she opened two sake bottles. She drank straight out of one, leaving one for me if I chose. “He still should have some repercussions though…”

“I think he’s suffered enough for the time.” Right now, he was realizing how wrong he had been. It was tearing him up inside, which was the ultimate form of punishment. Guilt was a hell of a thing to deal with. I looked at Aurora, sleeping peacefully, and came up with another idea for him as well. “Trust me, I have something in mind for that too.” Aurora stirred, but something was wrong. She nearly jumped a foot off of the couch when she woke up.

“Maa, settle down, it’s alright.” I said as I knelt by her. She dodged my hand as I went to ruffle her hair, tackling me in a tight hug. “I missed you too…” I held back tears, not wanting to break right now. With everything that happened...I realised in that time I hadn’t been there for her as much as I should have. Seeing Obito again...it had hit me the hardest and opened my eyes to what my life had been; I had been stuck in the past, but now I can move forward.  
I felt Aurora stiffen in my hold, like I had accidently poked her really hard. 

“Aurora?” I pulled back, making her look up to me. Her eyes widened, which was not the reaction I had hoped for. Ah, my eye, that’s right. “Maa, I almost forgot, you haven’t seen me with my new eye yet.” She’d never seen me without my left eye covered, at least with it open all of the time. “Naruto…”

“This isn’t real…” She whispered.

“What?”

“You’re not real!” She screamed, pushing me away as she went for the door. She was stopped by Sakura, who happened to be on the other side. She grabbed her by the collar, making her turn back around.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, I wanted to talk to you Lady Tsunade. But, I see you’re busy…” Aurora hid her face into Sakura’s pant leg.

“Actually, you’re just on time.” Aurora wasn’t acting like herself at all. It was like she couldn’t tell what was real or not. It took me a moment to understand, but I think she was still feeling the effects of the Tsukuyomi. Aurora watched me with fear filled eyes as I came up to them and knelt in front of her. “You think you’re still in a dream still, don’t you?” Her expression said it all.

“If she thinks that, other children might as well.” Tsunade was leaning over her desk, staring intently at my daughter. “We’ll have to get something going for them before they become disillusioned. We don’t want an entire generation thinking they’re still dreaming.”

Sakura got a stern look on her face, already thinking of a way to help. She was the only person who could take on this challenge.

* * *

  
Aurora’s View:

When I awoke on the couch in the Hokage’s office, tucked into a warm blanket, I knew I was in trouble. Someone had caught me...I tried to get up, but before I even got the blanket off of me, someone spoke.

“Maa, settle down, it’s alright.” It was father. I looked up to see him kneeling beside the couch as he reached to ruffle my hair. I didn’t let him, instead launching myself into his arms. “I missed you too…” he said softly, holding me closer. He smelled like copper and dirt, far different than what he should smell like. It couldn’t be...

“Aurora?” I looked up at him, seeing his eyes were completely different. He was telling me why he looked different, but it sounded made up. I wasn’t about to let someone trap me in a dream again!

I pushed him away, telling him he wasn’t real as I ran for the door. Unfortunately, Sakura-chan was on the other side and caught me. I buried my face into her leg, just wanting to wake up already! Why was this happening?

I felt someone coming closer and looked up, seeing father kneel in front of me. He asked me if I thought this was a dream still, which was different. In the other dream, they were always trying to convince me it was real right off. Maybe...I was wrong?

* * *

  
Tsunade-sama convinced me that this was the real world, performing a check up on me first to make sure I could handle the really hard pinch on my cheek. She said the pain from the pinch proved it was all real, but I was able to get hurt in the other world. Mom had healed all my scraps there…but she wasn’t here now.

* * *

  
My cheek still stung from Tsunade-sama on the walk home. I rubbed my cheek again, trying to relieve the pain. There was no question on if it left a mark, but now I'm worried it might even bruse.

Father cleared his throat in a gain to get my attention, but I didn’t look up this time. His eyes were still unreal to me.

“I know you’re confused, but could you tell me what happened in the “other world?”” He was trying to get me to open up.

“It looked the same, but everyone was different.” He wouldn’t understand. “You were different…” Similar to how he was acting now actually. He felt happier, like he had in the dream. The difference was, in the dream he still had his eye covered. I still didn’t fully understand how he had a new eye now.

“I was different? How so?” He stopped walking, making me stop too. 

“...I…” I couldn’t explain. “You just were. I can’t explain it.” I was frustrated that he didn’t get it, but couldn’t put my frustration into words. He wasn’t my father there, how did I tell him that?

“Alright, alright. I’m sorry I pushed, but you know you can tell me anything. If something happened there…I’d like to know.” Problem was, could I really trust that he was real?

* * *

  
Over the next few days, the shinobi from the Leaf began returning home. Father took me with him to the hospital to visit a few people that were injured. One of them was Gai-sensei. He didn’t look right, his skin was red like he had a really bad sunburn under his bandages. Gai didn’t talk much, father said the medication made him tired, but he was happy to see us. We left him a little flower in a glass before going off to see someone else.

_Yamato-Oji!_ He wasn’t as bandaged as Gai, but he did have a few. He looked surprised to see us.

“Eh, Kakashi-senpai? What are you doing here?” He looked different without his strange headband on. 

“We stopped by to see Gai and I heard you were still here. Looks like you’ve been cleared, eh?” Father pointed out that he was packing up to leave. 

“Yeah, just chakra depletion.” He shrugged. “Well, if that’s all.” He tried to pass us, but I pulled him into a tight hug. “Good to see you too, kiddo.” He ruffled my hair, waving father off as he rounded a corner. Right, he wasn’t with father here.

“What do you say we go for a walk?” Father was giving me one of his intense looks, thinking hard about something.

* * *

Father had led me to a small tea shop near the main road, buying me more dango that I could ever eat. I had no idea why, but I didn’t complain.

“I had a question for you.” He said as we sat on the bench outside the shop. “I know I don’t understand the dream you had, but was Yamato in it?”

“Yeah.” 

“I see. Was he your teacher?” 

“Not really. Um...you and Yamato were together.” Father fell quiet. “Like how you and daddy are here.” At least they seemed to be.

“Er...really now? That’s...different for sure. Is...is that why you didn’t want to talk about it before?” I nodded my head, stuffing dango into my mouth. I didn’t want to talk about the weird world. It wasn’t real anyway, so why was it so important I talk about it? “You know, it’s ok if you don’t want to talk about it with me. Just know, I’m here for you. You’re not the only one who had strange dreams.”

“Did you fall asleep too?”

“No, I was with Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura, helping them fight. But, everyone else was put under the genjutsu Infinite Tsukuyomi.” 

“What’s that?”

“Well, let’s see...how to explain…” He was thinking out loud. “You know about the Sharingan, so I don’t need to explain that to you, but are you aware of mangekyou sharingan or rinnegan?” I shook my head. “Mangekyou is the evolved form of a sharingan and pretty rare. Even more rare is the rinnegan, which is needed to activate the genjutsu. You saw a version of this on the moon before you went to sleep, the rennie-sharingan.” I had no words to express how confused I was, but one that dad said never to say did come to mind.

“But why? Why put everyone to sleep?” He hesitated, not wanting to tell me the truth. I frowned, upset he was trying to hide things from me, again.

* * *

Kakashi’s View:

Explaining Obito wasn’t something I was ready for, but she had me cornered. I wanted to tell her he was a hero, but it was complicated. 

“To explain that, I have to tell you a story.” I had never told her about him, it had been too hard then. Even now, it was still difficult to wrap my head around it all. “It’s about two boys who were once rivals and friends, but one didn’t realise how much his friend meant to him until it was too late.” I told her about Obito, how he always tried to be my friend back then, but I was too stubborn. How we ended up being teammates which just fueled our rivalry against each other. I explained what happened on our mission, that Obito was thought to be dead, but he was alive the whole time. 

It was even harder explaining Rin, how she was the glue that kept us together, kept me from falling apart after, but she too was taken from me. Obito had witnessed her death by my hand, which threw him into complete darkness. I was unaware at the time, but he had been hurting just as much as I was. But he did things that were unforgivable, all because the hatred filled whispers of a dead man. 

She didn’t understand how someone could be twisted to do those things and I hoped it stayed that way. I wanted her to stay away from the darkness.

“In the end, he realised he was only being used to fulfill Madara’s plan. Obito wanted a world where nothing bad happened, Madara had promised that.”

“So...Madara was the real bad guy?” 

“Eh, kind of. Though, Obito is still at fault for what he did. He made up for it by helping us take down Kaguya, but that’s a story for another time.” I told her. I didn’t want to confuse her more than I had. 

She pouted a bit, but understood that things were complicated. She wanted to ask more, but there was another reason I brought her to this tea shop. It was on the main road, closest to the gate where we could see shinobi returning home. I saw him before he saw us, looking only slightly disheveled. Aurora was the next to spot him, looking where I was and followed my gaze.

“Daddy!” She jumped up in a blink of an eye and shot off towards him. He had a few seconds to realize what was happening before he was bulldozed by our little redhead. Iruka laughed as he stumbled, lifting her up and swung her around. He had obviously missed her too.

“Maa, I don’t think I can beat that greeting.” He turned to me, grinning brightly. I had missed him so much. I lowered my mask, not caring if anyone saw us, and kissed him deeply. Aurora made a gagging noise between us, but we ignored her. “Welcome home.”

“I missed you both.” He sounded so relieved to be home.

* * *

I wasn’t sure who was glued to who, but Iruka had yet to put Aurora down. We stayed there for a while while they shared dango, where she stayed on his lap the whole time. I felt a little hurt that she clung to him like that when she had accused me of not being real. I didn’t show it, but Iruka being Iruka, noticed right away that I was sulking.

“Ok, why are you sulking?” Iruka asked, pointing a dango stick at me. 

“Eh? Nothing, really, I’m fine.” I tried, but he gave me that look that scared the hell out of everyone. “It’s...just...I’ll explain later.” I didn’t want Aurora feeling guilty over something she couldn’t help. 

* * *

  
Aurora’s View:

Father told me today was a mass memorial, which I think meant honoring everyone who was in the war. He would meet us at the ceremony, leaving me with dad. I guess since he was acting Hokage, he had to do a speech.

“Why are we wearing black?” 

“A lot of people died in the war. We wear black as a symbol for our grief.” He explained as he helped me tie my hair back. “That’s why we’re going to the cemetery.” Now I understand, a memorial was for people who were gone, not for the ones who had come back. “Stay by me today, ok?”

The rows of photos set up around the cemetery clued me in to how bad everything really was. All the faces in small frames, every one of them had had a family. I started to feel funny, like I was going to throw up and cry at the same time. I squeezed dad’s hand tighter as he led me around. We stopped to pay our respects to Shikamaru’s family and Ino-chan’s as well. I hadn’t realized their fathers had been killed in the war. What would I have done if mine had been killed? I didn’t want to think about that.

The sick feeling only got worse as we passed more people, their faces making me hurt inside. 

“Naruto.” I heard dad say. I was distracted by people putting flowers on new graves when I felt myself being pulled.

Naruto squeezed me with his only arm. Dad told me about Naruto getting injured, but never said he was missing his entire right arm. 

“I’m glad you're safe.” Dad told him as Naruto let me go. He was unusually quiet. I didn’t understand until I was the name on the stone he was near. I couldn’t make any words as I started crying. I didn’t want to be a crybaby anymore, but this wasn’t fair.

“He died protecting us...he sacrificed himself so we could win.” Naruto’s grip on my shoulder tightened. “He’s a hero.” I saw Hinata-chan was there too, crying just as hard but completely silent. Why did people have to die?

* * *

Iruka’s View:

Aurora didn’t talk the rest of the day, her eyes still red from crying and had a lost look to them. She knew some of the ones who were gone. I had a feeling she still didn’t comprehend death and was still a little confused.

* * *

  
Kakashi had to stay longer, but I took the chance after his speech to sneak out with her. She needed a break before she made the ground a sheet of ice under everyone. She’d already made it very cold around herself, the first warning she was losing control.

“Aurora, are you ok?” I asked once we were far enough away, but she wouldn’t look at me. I knelt in front of her, but she only turned further away. “Sweetheart, I know how it must feel…” 

“Everyone feels so sad.” Her voice was rough from crying earlier. “I don’t like it…” 

“Ah, I see.” She was picking up on everyone’s grief. “Is it better out here?” She shook her head, hiding her face in shadow. I brushed her hair back a bit but she just turned away again. Something was very wrong.

“Can people who are gone come back?” It crushed me, but I had to tell her no. “Then, why in the dream world were there people who are gone? Couldn’t they come back like in the dream?” I sighed, not understanding what was confusing her.

“No, they can’t come back. It’s just the way of life, but they aren’t truly gone. Their memories are still with us, which we keep alive by passing along their teachings. The dream world was just that, a dream.” I explained. She shook, tears falling onto the pavement again. “Aurora…”

“But, how can I have met someone who’s gone?!” I had no idea what she meant. I held her, letting her cry into my shirt. 

“What do you mean?” But she couldn’t answer me clearly.

“Maa, everything alright?” I felt Kakashi’s hand on my shoulder. Aurora didn’t let go, letting me lift her into my arms. “What happened?” I shook my head, having no idea what had set her off.

“Let’s get you home, ok?” I whispered to her, hoping to get her to calm down. Kakashi was worried too, but there was nothing we could do until she told us what was wrong.

* * *

  
Aurora’s view:

While we were at the cemetery, I had seen the Uchiha section at a glance. I had met most of them in the dream, but the one standing out to me though made my blood run cold. Our teacher was there, but on a black stone, which I think meant they never found his body.. Shisui Uchiha. Like mom, he was dead too, long before I was even born, so how did I meet them?

* * *

Once we were home, dad and father tried to get me to talk, but even I didn’t know how to explain. I did try to explain, but it only made dad look at me funny. That was what I had feared, that no one would believe what I saw.

“I knew someone by that name, but he died a long time ago.” Father was vague on how, but it didn’t matter. “I can’t say I knew him personally, but he was friends with someone else I knew.” Dad turned his look at father, just as confused as I was.

“So, how did she dream of him?” 

“It’s possible her dream was an ideal world, where no one got hurt. I suppose it’s possible that the genjutsu made it true for everyone in her world, meaning Sasuke never lost his family. Meaning, his brother, Itachi never had to turn his blade on his clan and Shisui would never have died. If all was perfect, Shisui might have been your Jonin sensei.” 

“So, he was real?” I asked, hoping I wasn’t making him up.

“Yes, he was, but he is no longer here.” Father was blunt. “Do you understand that?” I did, but it didn’t make me feel better. It meant that mom was truly gone too. No one else had matched their true selves either, so was mom really as nice as she was in the dream world?

“I think so…” Dad still looked worried about me. “I...saw my mom too.” That got both of them to gasp. 

“Uh...well, that’s interesting.” Father snapped out of whatever daze he was in. “What was she like?”

* * *

Kakashi’s View:

All I wanted to do was pass out, but now I had a different thing to worry about. Aurora’s hold on reality was shaken and I wasn’t sure how to get through to her. The people who impacted her dream life were not alive in the real world. It hurt her that people she learned to love there, she could no longer see here. In a way, I knew how she felt. I just...how could I explain her mother? She was old enough now to understand everything, but I had no idea if the Hanako she met was anything like the real one.

Iruka and I really didn’t sleep that night, both of us choosing to stay up in rotations to watch Aurora sleep. That was all she did though. After my last watch, I decided she was going to be fine for the night.

Iruka was currently laying in our bed, having fallen into a deep sleep after his last watch. He looked so peaceful, making me envy him just a little. I wished I had given in sooner to be with him, but it gave me a chance to admire him as he slept.

“Dad?” I looked up from watching Iruka. I smiled and waved her in, keeping quiet so Iruka wouldn’t wake up. Aurora crawled up between us, letting me squish her between Iruka and me. He woke up a little, pulling us close and nuzzling Aurora’s cheek.

“Bad dreams?” I asked as she settled down between us. She just nodded her head and cuddled closer, not saying a word as she fell back to sleep. “Hm, you’re safe with us.” I kissed her forehead as she closed her eyes. It had been quite a while since she had come to us with nightmares. I hoped with some time, they would lessen and allow her to rest peacefully.


	38. Chapter 38

Kakashi View:

As much as I wanted to put everything on hold to help Aurora through all of this, I still had something very important to do. Of course she was also a priority, but she hadn’t delared to destroy all of the villages and reshape the shinobi world. The other Kage had been reluctant to even consider what Naruto and I had to say about him, but relented when they learned that without him, the world would have been lost.  
Aurora wasn’t happy I wasn’t telling her where we were going, still not trusting thatI was the real me. She still tried, annoyingly so. Maybe she should be kept away from Naruto, she was picking up his annoying habit of asking too much.

“Where are we going?” Aurora asked again, tugging my hand to get me to answer her, forcing me to drag her along. I told her it was a surprise, but she kept proding. “Why wouldn’t you tell me? You promised no more secrets.” _She might make a good interrogator one day…_

  
“We’re here.” The prison was already an intimidating building, but the dark brick was not helping it in the slightest. Aurora stopped pulling on my sleeve and stood closer to me, possibly thinking she did something wrong. “Maa, there’s someone here I want you to meet. He’s an old friend of ours.”

* * *

Aurora’s View:

I kept trying to figure out what father meant by an old friend. I don’t remember if anyone I knew went to jail. _Was he confusing me with someone else?_

Inside was even scarier than the outside. It felt damp, but there didn’t seem to be any leaks and looked relatively new. The dark walls and low lighting made it a lot creepier than it should be. I took a hold of my father's sleeve and followed him through the halls. _Were the people in here just as scary?_  
A guard stopped us, making sure father and I weren’t here to try anything _funny_ , before leading into a locked area. _What could be funny about a jail?_  
Father and the guard stopped in the middle of a larger room, talking about the cell around the corner. I listened to them as I tried to get a peak at who it was. Father was distracted with something, allowing me to slip towards the cell.

The person was looking out the window, seals all around his body and one wrapped around his forehead. He was shrouded in the shadows so I couldn’t tell what he looked like, but knew it was a man. I leaned against the bars to get a better look, which made the man stiffen a bit. He turned his head, letting the light hit his face a little more and revealed his eyes were covered with a seal too.   
“Maa, you shouldn’t wander off in a place like this.” I felt father put his hand on my head. “I see you’ve found him. It’s been a while since you two have seen each other. Do you remember him?” He looked very much like he did in my dream, but his hair was different.  
“S-Sasuke-nii?” The look Sasuke gave me, it was like something in him broke. “Nii-san? You’re back!” I smiled, happy he was home finally. “But…”  
“Aurora…” Sasuke looked away, hiding in the shadows again. “You grew since I last saw you.”   
“But...your eyes are covered. How do you see me?” Sasuke looked back up, a shadow of a smirk on his face. “Where did you go?” No one really told me much about where he was, but Naruto promised he was ok.   
“I...got lost.”   
“Well, since we’re here, I figure I’ll tell you what’s going to happen.” Father said, cutting off my questions. “I’ll be honest with you, someone like you should be imprisoned for the rest of your life. However, due to your role in the fourth shinobi, you will be pardoned. Though, my becoming Hokage and the wishes of Naruto helped.”   
Sasuke seemed relieved, but still on edge. I looked between them, not understanding what was going on.

“Why are you in prison?” I had heard he killed Danzo, but was that really a bad thing?

“I’ve caused a lot of trouble for the Leaf and others. I’m not the person I was...but I know I can never make up for what I’ve done.” 

“Hm, I hope that’s true. Anything you do from here on falls on my shoulders.” I wasn’t sure if father was being sincere or not. I didn’t want to see Sasuke in here forever.

“I’m guessing I won’t be released until everyone agrees? I want to know how this world looks to the current me. I want to see if there are things I once overlooked…” I think he was looking towards me, but it was hard to tell. What did he mean by that?

“I’ll see what I can do, but as long as you don’t cause trouble, I see no problem with it. Aurora, I need you to step out for a bit. There’s something I need to talk to him about.”

* * *

  
Seeing Sasuke wasn’t the happy moment I thought it would be. He had changed, no longer the Sasuke that would play with me, but...broken was the word that came to my mind. His chakra even felt weird, dark and scary, but still had a calmness to it. I only felt it after the seal was removed from his forehead. Hopefully he wouldn’t be sad for very long.

* * *

Sasuke’s View:  
  
I was surprised when Kakashi offered to let me stay at his place for the night. I had thought I was to stay in prison until tomorrow morning.   
  
“Well? Unless you want to sleep here one more night.” I deserved too… “It would include staying with Aurora.”   
  
“What’s the catch?”   
  
“I just told you.” _Why was he treating me this way?_  
  
“Why? Why do you care about me?”  
  
“You really haven’t learned anything have you? Maybe you should stay to think some more…” Kakashi put his hands back into his pockets. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from telling him off, he was offering to let me out early, I couldn’t look that gift horse in the mouth…

“Fine.” 

“Good. The guard will hold on to the note with my address. Come by when they let you out.”

* * *

  
Of course Kakashi made sure I had to go to his place and wouldn’t just leave in the night. He took all of my weapons, somehow getting the guards to give them up. _Damn him…_ guess he was using all the perks of becoming the Hokage.

He had also moved, my guess having too after Pain attacked, but hadn’t told me it was out of the way from everything. The stress of thinking I’d still have to watch my back while in his house went down a little, since there was no chance of an attack from rooftops here. 

I stayed outside of the door for a moment, listening to Kakashi telling Aurora to stop doing something. Someone else spoke, sounding more strict and oddly familiar. _Did Kakashi have someone else over tonight?_

Before I could knock, Kakashi opened the door, giving me his usual eye smile. 

“You going to just stand out there all night?” He motioned for me to come in. “Come on, dinner is almost rea…”  
  
“Sasuke-nii!!” I was caught off guard when Aurora launched herself onto me. “You came over?!” Apparently he didn’t tell her anything, or the other person in the house by the gasp I heard from behind me.

“Did you forget to tell me something?” I looked back to see Iruka, wondering what the hell he was doing here. “Guess now I know why you asked me to double everything.” He was finishing up whatever they were cooking. I got the feeling he didn’t really want me here…

Dinner was awkward, but Aurora kept everything light. She was excited to see me, telling me all about what she and everyone had done while I was gone. I didn’t have to talk, she was just happy that I listened.

* * *

After dinner, Aurora had to get ready to go to bed, the buffer between Kakashi and Iruka taken away. Both of them left for a moment to attend to her, leaving me to think of what to say and explore what their connection was. There were pictures lined up on a windowsill, one of them being of team seven when we first became a team. I regret leaving, the photo only reminding me. Other photos showed Aurora and how much she had grown. She had been so small when I left, now she comes up to my waist. The guilt got worse as I continued on. 

The one with all three of them clued me in to what Kakashi and Iruka were. Aurora had her nose pressed into Iruka’s, both of them smiling while Kakashi held them close. The three of them were a family. The last photo hurt the most thought. Naruto joined them in this picture, holding Aurora, who looked annoyed he was holding her in his lap while resting his head on the top hers. Iruka had his arm around the blonde’s shoulders, grinning just like Naruto; Kakashi obviously was the one who took it. I think I got what Kakashi meant now, what I still needed to learn; _they could have been like my family too._ I could have been in this moment with them if I hadn’t been so blind to what I had.

“Iruka, please…” Kakashi said from around the corner. I turned to see Iruka standing behind me, irritation written all over him. He didn’t say a word, but I knew what he wanted to say.

“I know what I’ve done is unforgivable, there’s a lot I need to make up for.” I was aware how much I hurt everyone and wanted a chance to prove I had changed. Iruka could be the first to convince, which would help in the long run if I wanted to be part of their lives.

“Then you know how hard it was watching the ones I loved chase after you, to give their all to bring you home.” He was scolding me, no one had yet to really scold me like a child. “You didn’t just hurt Naruto and your friends, you hurt the ones close to them too.” _Like a virus...that’s what I was._ Iruka’s scolding didn’t stop just there, but the entire time I wondered why he bothered. “Just promise me one thing. Don’t hurt them like that again.” 

“Yeah.” I smiled a bit, understanding that he only cared about Naruto’s wellbeing. 

“Maa...I think he’s had enough for now.” Kakashi finally intervened. “Just understand that we do care about you.” Iruka’s face softened, looking almost...motherly at me. _I see, he does care..._

* * *

  
  
  
Aurora’s View:

Sasuke had stayed one last night, like he promised, but I thought he had been convinced to stay in the village. I guess staying over last night didn’t go as well as I thought. Dinner with us seemed to go fine, but I wondered if he and father had talked after I went to bed. I know dad hadn’t been as happy about him staying, maybe Sasuke-nii picked up on that and didn’t want to stay anymore.

He was packing his things in our spare room, his back to the door, not hearing me when I stepped in. 

“Why do you have to go?” I asked him again, but I expected him to give me the same silence he gave me last night.

“I can’t stay here right now. There are things...things I need to make up for.” He didn’t turn to look at me, just kept talking to me over his shoulder. “Maybe one day I’ll come back, but for now I must be alone.” He made a point to zip his backpack up in a harsh manner to let me know he was done talking.

I stepped out of the way as he walked towards the bedroom door, keeping my eyes down, hurt that he wouldn’t tell me why he had to go alone. Instead of brushing past me, he turned to kneel in front of me, putting his hand on my head.

“You shouldn’t be involved with my past, so you don’t need to know why I have to leave.” He made me look him in the eyes. He was being cryptic, as dad put it, again, but at least he wasn’t mad at me.

“Then...” I sighed, defeated by his chastising look. “Promise you’ll be safe?”

“Tsh...” I think I got him to laugh. “If it makes you stop asking, I promise.” He smiled and poked my forehead. “Come on, I need to get going.” He stood up, brushing past me out of the room. _So much for being a better big brother!_

* * *

  
Father had to lead Sasuke-nii out of the village, so he wasn’t able to run from me just yet. There was still a chance he might change his mind on the way to the gate and I was going to try my best to convince him on the way.

“Ma, Aurora, where are you going?” I turned around to see they were going a different way, which would go around the village, not through it. “We’re going this way.” _Wait, that ruins my plans!_ Apparently we wanted to avoid people, no visit them. I guess that makes sense...but it did ruin what I had planned, I knew some of his old friends were in town and had thought that would convince him to stay.

“I don’t want to say goodbye to anyone. It’s better this way.” Sasuke said as he led the way. _So much for that plan._

“Understandable. Which is why you chose dawn as well. Not very many people are up at this time either.” Father seemed to agree with Sasuke, which was the opposite of what I wanted. “So, where are you planning on going first?”

I was busy trying to think of another plan, but listened to them talk.

“I see where she gets it...” Sasuke sighed as father kept asking him things.

“Hm? Well, I’m guessing yesterday’s pestering didn’t convince you to stay here, so I’m obligated to ask where you’re going.” I could feel the irritation coming off of Sasuke.

“Does it really matter that much...” they both stopped as we approached the gate. I looked around father to see why they stopped walking. Sakura was at the gate, but she had yet to see us. “Tsh...” Sasuke walked past us, but only just past the gates.

“Well, as you know, under normal circumstances you would be locked away in prison. The only reason your wishes are being granted and your actions up until now are pardoned is mostly from the support of Naruto, and myself as the Sixth Hokage. Make sure you keep that in mind. Cause this time, my ass is on the line.” Father made it all sound like a threat.

“Yeah...” Sasuke sounded guilty, but I had yet to hear his entire story. He was vague about things when I asked.  
“Are you really going to leave? Tsunade-sama has nearly finished creating your artificial arm...” Sakura was acting weird around Sasuke.  
“I need to see the ninja world for myself...I feel like I’ll finally be able to see everything I once overlooked. If I don’t seize this opportunity to use this clarity, I might miss my chance to use it.” He told Sakura the same thing he said to me.

“Well...what if...I asked you...to take me with you.” Sakura was acting weird still and even blushed when she asked. Sasuke told her basically the same thing he told me, only that she had nothing to do with his sins.  
She took it as that he wanted nothing to do with her, but it wasn’t that way. Then he moved closer and poked her forehead, telling her he’d see her when he came back and whispered something that made her blush again.

He walked away, leaving without saying anything to me. I wouldn’t let him do it, not again. I ran to him, grabbing his coat.  
“Aurora...”  
“You didn’t say goodbye...” I felt the tears burning my eyes.  
“Guess I didn’t.” He turned to look over his shoulder at me, the same smirk from earlier was back on his face. “I have a mission for you. In the village lives a blonde woman with a small boy. Look after that boy for me.”  
“Wh..”  
“He’s...important. Promise me, and I promise you I’ll be safe. Deal?” I nodded, promising to do my best. I heard my father call to me, telling me it was time to go home. “Go on, find her for me and watch over them until I return.” Sasuke walked away again, but I didn’t run after him, even though he still didn’t say goodbye.

* * *

  
The woman he was talking about...it had to be Nina, but why would her baby be important to Sasuke-nii?

“Father, do you know Nina-chan?”

“Eh...yes, how do you know her?” He seemed shocked to hear I knew her.

“Well...Sasuke said her son was important to him. Why would he be important to him?” Father stopped walking and brought me closer.

“I’ll explain that later, but for now I need you to understand that you cannot talk about her or her son’s connection to Sasuke out in the open.” The serious tone he took made me realize Nina might not be a good person. Was she part of the past Sasuke was talking about?

“O-ok...” I was scared I had done something wrong just by talking to her.

“Maa...how about I take you to work with me today, eh?” He gave me an eye smile, which was off putting with how fast he changed from being serious to seemingly happy. “You can see all the duties a Hokage has to do.” He wrapped his arm around me, practically dragging me through town as he told me all about how much he had to do now.

* * *

“...And this is the office.” We finally finished his long, and boring, tour of the Hokage tower.

“Yay...” I tried to be enthusiastic, but I had been here before, it was just Tsunade’s old office.

“What? Aren’t you proud to be part of this?” He picked up the Hokage hat off of the hat rack and put it on. “One day, maybe you’ll become the Hokage as well.” He winked as he sat at his desk. I wasn’t sure I wanted that yet, but it was a possibility.

“What if I don’t become the Hokage?” I asked as I sat on his desk, crossing my legs under me.

“Well, then you can do other things. You don’t have to become the Hokage if you don’t want to.”

* * *

Kakashi’s View:

Later in the afternoon, Tsunade dropped off all of the paperwork for becoming her successor...I had no idea it was going to be stacks of papers and not just pieces. 

“Congratulations on becoming the Sixth Hokage, Kakashi.” She smiled, happy for me, but I wasn’t so sure.

“Thanks. I just wonder if I can actually do this…”

“You’ll manage. After all, I did.” Yeah...big shoes to fill. I was glad Shizune and Shikamaru interrupted. 

“Ah, status report?” I suspected people from around the world wanted to see Naruto. Maybe it was a good thing Sasuke left first. 

“The Kazekage and the Raikage’s entourage have arrived. May I escort them to Naruto?” 

“You may.” Both Tsunade and I replied. Guess it would take time to beat that out of her. 

“I have a request.” Shikamaru bowed his head. “I wish to help the village in any way I can. I ask to be your assistant, to become the advisor of the Hokage.”

“Maa, I see. Well, how can I say no.” I smiled. There was no one else better suited for that job, if he hadn’t asked I would have asked him.

“Why is everyone coming to see Naruto?” Aurora asked, shocking everyone. Apparently they hadn’t seen her making paper cranes in the corner.

“Maa...guess he’s mister popular now.”

“After saving the world, who can blame them for wanting to meet him.” Tsunade agreed. “Speaking of him, how shall we proceed with his status? He can’t stay a Genin if he wants to be Hokage.”

“Hm...I think I know someone who can help me with that.” I gave her an eye smile. “Leave that to me.”

* * *

Aurora and I left after our meeting to head to the academy. The plan was for Shikamaru to bring Naruto here for a surprise. Iruka was waiting for us in his classroom, hopefully ready for Naruto’s arrival.

“So...why are we leading Naruto-nii here?” She asked as we entered Iruka’s class room. 

“If you don’t spoil it, I will tell you.” Iruka said, putting a stack of books on his desk. “As you know, Naruto is still technically a Genin. He can’t stay that way if he wants to become the Hokage. So, Kakashi and I have come up with a lesson plan to help him.” As he spoke, we heard Shikamaru outside the door. “Now, keep it quiet for now.” he whispered, walking a little closer to the door to block the view of the desk.

“Huh? Iruka-sensei...Kakashi-sensei?” Naruto was confused as to what was going on. 

“It’s Lord Hokage now.” Shikamaru grinned, making Naruto step back.

“W-when did that happen?!” 

“You haven’t seen the messages that have come in?” Shikamaru sighed. Eventually he gave up, seeing the blonde knew nothing about what was going on.

“So, what do I call you? Kakashi Hokage? Hokage Kakashi-sensei?” 

“We can decide that later…Naruto. You never got to take the Chunin Exams, right?” I made him focus on the task at hand. Of course I knew he hadn’t, but he had to tell me for legal reasons. “Naruto Uzumaki! I, the Sixth Hokage, grant you…” I paused, watching him and Aurora hold their breaths. “The rank of Jonin of the Hidden Leaf Village.” That got everyone in the room to look at me like I had lost it, except for Naruto. “Is what I would like to say.” The defeat on his face was perfect. “There is something you must complete before that.” 

Konohamaru and his team entered, carrying more books and scrolls for Iruka. _Guess he really had all of the bases covered…_ Naruto looked scared of it all, but it was nothing compared to the stacks on my desk right now.

“Here’s the educational materials you’ll need.” Iruka was oddly happy about this.

“You mean…” Naruto worried.

“Yes, you have to study. See, school is very important.” I looked towards Aurora, hoping she was getting this.

“No way! I’ll stay a Genin if it means I have to study!” Naruto panicked.

“Hey! There’s no shortcuts to becoming the Hokage. Got it?” Konohamaru was the one to reprimand him.

“I know your skill is far beyond anything I have seen before, but if you want to become the Hokage, you have to learn to stand above others and lead them.” I told him. “ It took more convincing from Konahamaru, even Aurora scolded him for being a baby, but he finally caved. He swore to be the best student and learn everything as fast as he could.

* * *

  
Aurora wanted to stay, but there was a very good chance Iruka was going to go overboard and study all night with Naruto. She would learn all of what he was learning throughout her time in the academy and missions, there was plenty of time for her. 

“How come Naruto didn’t finish the exams?” 

“Well, the first one, as you know, was cut short. He was out with Jiraiya during the second rounds of exams.” 

“Oh. Wouldn’t helping win the war make him more than ready to be Hokage?”

“Eh, not really. It takes more than just winning to become the Hokage. You have to lead people, which means sometimes you have to make the hard decisions for them. A leader also has to listen, they can’t just do anything they want to.”

“So you can’t change it?” 

“No.” I think her concept of being the Hokage was a little skewed. “There’s still rules against me doing anything like that. One day, you’ll understand what I mean.” Morals might not be something she could wrap her head around yet. 

“So...what does the Hokage do?” 

“Hm...well, the Hokage makes sure the village is safe, which means taking care of every aspect of it. Now, I can’t really do all of that on my own of course, so I delegate things to different departments if I need to.” 

“What does that mean?” Right...six year old, can’t use big words. 

“It means it takes more than one person to run a village. Daddy just has to figure out which team is the best for each problem.”   
“So it’s not up to you what happens in the village?”

“Not always, but I can have the final say.” I ruffled her hair. “Ma, your hair is getting longer. Should we cut it again?” Politics were advanced for her, so there was no need to explain them in depth.

“No way!” She pulled away, putting her hands over her hair. “I like it long!” Which was fine, but the way it had been cut made it very choppy. The right side had her bangs growing past her chin, but the left was still only just below her ear. It was cute, but needed to be evened out.

“Hokage gets final say.” I teased, making her pout. “Maa, maa I’m kidding.” I put my hands up non defensively. “May I at least help make it much prettier?” That convinced her to let me help when we got home.

* * *

As I predicted, Iruka came home late, long after Aurora went to bed. He didn’t get the chance to see how cute her new hair cut was, but he could see it tomorrow.

“Have a fun time studying?” I asked when he came into our room. I was still up reading, waiting to see what time he’d come home. 

“Yeah.” But he seemed a little out of it.

“Something happen?” I set my book down, giving him my full attention.

“Naruto...he told me if it wasn’t for me, he wouldn’t be here.” He was just overwhelmed with his feelings. “Heh...do you really think I’m all that great?” He looked at me, tears still in his eyes. “I mean...I’m not anyone…”

“But you are.” I pulled him close, letting him tuck his head under my chin. “There’s a lot of things you’ve done, even if you don’t realize them, that make you that way.”

“Tsk, like what?” I guess to him, he just did what he did because it’s what his heart told him to do. 

“Besides saving Naruto from becoming isolated, you saved me. You taught me what it’s like to have a family, and what it takes to keep one together.” I felt him start to shake, tears staining my night shirt. “You’ve taught countless children to believe in themselves, so don’t tell me you’re nothing. Because to me, you’re everything.” He really didn’t know how much he had meant to everyone in the village, what he meant to me.

“Kashi…thank you.” 


	39. Chapter 39

Kakashi's View:

To get things somewhat back normal, the Academy was reopened within a week. Iruka and the other teachers quickly modified the lesson plans for the new world we now lived in, starting to focus more on other options besides just becoming a ninja. With peace across the nations, not every student needed to become a ninja anymore. He was telling me of the plans to expand on how long they would focus on each topic, extending kids time at the academy until they twelve year old, which meant they would need new teachers. Another thing to add to my already long list, which seemed to be getting longer everyday.

I tried my best to listen, I really did, but most of it I didn't pay attention to. Tsunade and I were neck deep in paperwork to keep the revamped Konoha Military Police from revealing every one of the Roots identities. Yes, a lot of them were criminals, but most chose to change sides when their seals were removed. Some had made progress in their lives, exposing them would only harm them and put targets on their backs, including Yamato and Sai. I couldn't let people tear them apart for their pasts.

"Kakashi?" I snapped out of it when Iruka waved his hand in front of my face. "Did you hear me?"

"Eh...sorry." I promised when I was home I would focus on family, but it was hard to think about when part of the extended family is in danger. "I think your ideas are great." He glared, apparently he wasn't talking about the school anymore.

"I asked if you had gotten through to Aurora yet, that this isn't a dream still?" Apparently he had been telling me that at school she didn't interact with anyone, even when Sora kept landing paper frogs on her desk. She didn't believe they were her real classmates, or believe anyone else, but us and a select few, were real.

"I've tried, but maybe it hasn't been enough." The last chance was for her to see Sakura at her new clinic, but she hadn't gotten everything running just yet. "Has she said anything to you?"

"Other than she prefers this version of me, no." An odd thing to say, but apparently he had been different in the dream too.

"What did you dream about?" Maybe his dream held a clue on what to do. Iruka scratched his scar nervously.

"Not much changed." He blushed. "Biggest difference was that you apparently were a part of the police force, which was strange, but we were married." So, his dream wasn't as clear as hers. What was the difference? Why wasn't he as affected by the jutsu as she was? "What? Did I say something?" I must have had a look on my face, which might have given him the wrong impression.

"Sort of. You said you remember pieces of it, Aurora remembers every detail, but the jutsu was the same." _Were kids affected differently?_

"It could be because she's still a child." At least he came to the same conclusion. "She also saw people who aren't alive anymore."

"You...didn't see your parents?" Iruka looked towards the floor.

"I...don't think I did." I didn't mean to upset him. "But I think it's because I've come to terms that they're gone and I'm happy with my current life. That could factor into why everyone's dream was different."

"You don't think Aurora's happy?"

"You took that the wrong way…" Iruka laughed. "I think she is, but there's something she thinks she's missing. You and I both know she's always wanted to know why she doesn't have a mother." He let out a shout when I tackled him down on the bed. "What are you?!"

"You may have just solved it. Thank you." I know he was confused, but he made the connection I couldn't; the dreams were what each individual wanted deep within their heart. "You know, we can make part of your dream come true…"

"Eh?" I felt his body stiffen. "S-stop teasing!" But I wasn't. Guess I'll ask at a different time.

* * *

Sakura listened to what Iruka and I theroised, taking note that she had been thinking the same thing. She needed more evidence to make it conclusive, but shinobi had yet to line up for any help for themselves. That and medical ninja were still stretched a little thin, which meant it was just her and Ino for the time being.

"Would you bring her here after school today? Maybe she'll talk to me. There might be something about the dream she's uncomfortable talking to you about." I hadn't thought of that before.

"I'm sure she'd be happy too."

* * *

Aurora's View:

"Huh? Kakashi, I didn't expect you here." I heard dad say as I was grabbing my things. I looked up to see father in the doorway. "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing. Sakura wanted me to bring Aurora to see her, apparently she really misses you." That's a lie. "We'll see you at home?" Dad sighed.  
"Yeah, sounds fine. I might be a little late again tonight. I have another study session with Naruto. Have fun you two."

* * *

Sakura nearly crushed me with her hugs, it was becoming a painful theme every time I saw her.

"How is it you get cuter every time I see you?" At least she didn't pinch my cheek like she used to, I have a feeling it would be more painful now. She went on to say how cute I looked with tiny pigtails, not getting on with why I was here.

"Good to see you too." Father cleared his throat, making her let go. I took a deep breath, wondering if I had turned blue from lack of air.

"Right. Why don't you stay out here, Kakashi-sensei. I mean…" Sakura quickly tried to correct herself.

"It's fine, I'm not used to the whole Hokage thing yet anyway. I'll wait out here." He waved as Sakura started leading me away down a half finished hallway. At the end was the only room that had a door, where Ino was waiting for us. She sat on the couch on the opposite wall, a chair near the corner was the only other thing in the room. _What was this place?_

"Hey cutie!" Ino didn't hug me at least. "I bet you're wondering what's going on." Ino patted the free spot on the couch.

"We know some are having trouble getting back to normal after the war, after waking up from the dream world. I hear you're having some trouble too. Ino is here to help sort out what is and isn't real in your mind. We're not here to punish you for anything, we just want to help." Sakura explained as I sat with Ino. "It only works if you allow us to continue. This is a safe place, you can say anything here." She took a seat in the chair, picking up the notebook and pen left on the seat.

"I can say anything?" Both of them nodded. "Then...if this is the real world, why does father look different?""Figures he didn't explain…" Sakura sighed. "During the war, Kakashi-sensei lost his eye, but Naruto used his sage chakra to heal him."

"Sage chakra?"

"Let's talk jutsus later, this is about you." Sakura tapped the pen on her chin. "Is there anything else different here that you need explained?" I shook my head, not wanting to explain how everyone had been different. "So, you do understand that the other world wasn't real?"

"Yeah, but it felt real. And there were people that I never met before. How can that happen?"

"Well, we're still working on that, but I have a theory. What is the one thing you have always wanted?"

"What I've wanted?" What does she mean?

"Something that you've always dreamed to have." It was hard to really choose, but what I've always wanted was something I couldn't have…

"I...always wanted a mom...but dad and father can't know that!" It would hurt their feelings.

"It's ok Aurora, remember, this place is safe. I won't tell anyone what you say here. So, your dream was about having a mom?"

"It was my mom, my real mom. Dad and father weren't together though...I didn't want that."

"Why don't you tell us about the dream. Ino, would you?" Sakura had Ino turn my head to face her, placing her fingertips on my temples.

"This jutsu will help you remember and allow me to see what you saw." Ino explained as the edge of my vision blurred. Everything from the dream seemed to flow around us like a film reel as I told them everything that happened. There was one part that I didn't remember that Ino revealed, one about my mother showing me an old book that held information on a clan, but what clan I couldn't remember. Ino could read that the book had a family tree in it, but the memory was so short there wasn't much to do.

"...and then we woke up."

"Interesting…" Sakura was writing things down when Ino let the jutsu go. "It seems the worlds are actually similar, but each experience is based on what they want." She seemed to be talking to herself. "You said everyone was different in your dream, can you elaborate on that? Did they look different as well as act differently?" I guess while under Ino's jutsu I had told her everyone was different.

"Yeah, they wore slightly different things." It was hard to explain, but Sakura continued writing. _What was so interesting about a dream?_

"Sakura, what is it?" Ino sighed. "I know you've figured something out, spill it."

"The entire world of the dream was basically the same, everyone acted different, except the one who was dreaming."

"And?"

"That's why the ones that are gone were alive there. It was Obito that explained it when Madara cast the jutsu, he told us what his dream was that he wished war never existed. If there wasn't war in the dream world, a lot of people would still be here."

"Including mom?" I asked, sort of understanding what she was saying.

"That's right. It explains why there were Uchiha clan members in your dream too."

"So, why wasn't my real father there? Was only one war taken away?"

"That I can't say." Sakura smiled softly. "Best guess I can give is, even in that world he might have had to save you and your mom. Don't dwell on those questions, ok? Just know that in this world, your real family is what is important."

Sakura just made me wonder what my past was, or actually the past of my real parents. If what she said was true, why did dad have to die for me and mom? Wasn't that world supposed to be perfect?

* * *

"Maa, how did it go?" Father asked when we returned to the waiting area. I listened to Sakura explain a shared theory between them, but I didn't understand some of the terms. "So, the genjutsu was what we thought. A big simulation of what your heart desired." Father looked at me weird again, like he was looking right into me.

* * *

Kakashi's View:

From the account Sakura told me, Aurora just wanted to know where she came from. She wanted to understand why her parents did what they did, but the truth might be too much for her. I couldn't hide it forever, I knew that, but she knew about the book with her family tree, the same book Gai found back in Mizugakure. Of course I had it, at least most of it, from copying it all down. That wasn't the problem, it was that damn note I found. Hanako was giving her away in this world. It would crush Aurora to know the woman in her dream had planned on giving her up. I decided I would show her the copy of the book when we got home, but I'd hide the note for a bit longer.

"What is it?" Aurora asked as I pulled a box down from my bedroom closet.

"You remember going to Mizugakure right?"

"Kind of?" Seemed those memories were fading.

"Well, when we went there, Gai found a book. That book told us the story of your parents." Her look of excitement weirdly hurt me as I opened the box on the bed. "At least, on your birth father's side. It's about his clan's abilities." The blue notebook that held the copy was buried on the bottom, allowing me to quickly sneak the note out of the cover before handing it to her.

"This isn't the book from the dream…"

"Let me guess, it was purple and old looking, right?" Of course it was, her dream proving that Hanako was in fact the last person to have a hold of the book. "This is a copy. It's the only copy. The original is in Mizu, but it was too damaged to travel with. Everything from that book is in here."

"Can...I read it?" She looked over the cover.

"Of course. Just know, some of the things were smudged in the original. I...had to fix a few things." Guessing what word came next in that book had been more like deciphering a coded scroll. "If something seems to be missing, it was missing in the original too."

* * *

Aurora spent the rest of the day in the living room reading over the book, looking over the jutsus of her birth clan. No doubt she would be trying some of them out as soon as she could. I read over her shoulder from the couch as she read at the coffee table, wondering if she actually understood what some of the jutsus were meant for. The original had small hand drawn depictions, which I didn't copy for many reasons, most of them depicting how their enemy died. I went with describing instead, with a little less detail on what the victim would feel. I was waiting for her to ask about them, but she never did, instead flipping through the ones she didn't understand.

It wasn't until she found the family tree she finally broke the silence.

"Who are they?" She held the book up for me to read.

"Clans men from the past. I don't know about any of them, except Mangetsu and Suigetsu." I had the pleasure of meeting Mangetsu during the war, though he was being used more as a puppet. I had figured he would be much older, but had been surprised that he didn't look much over seventeen. The information on his age was vague, just that he died young in battle, which was only partly true.

"So...Mangetsu is my father?" Why did I feel jealous of her calling him that?

"Er...yes. Your mother's name was Hanako and your name was…"

"Tsukiko. Mom called me that in the dream." I didn't know she knew her birth name.

"Hm, what else did she tell you?" I let her crawl into my lap to look over the family tree with her.

"She never met anyone else on the tree but them." She pointed to her birth father's name and to Suigetsu. "He's still alive, but mom didn't know where he went." _Interesting, so his brother wasn't with him that night._

"Where did she last see him?" Aurora shrugged, turning the pages of the book again. "Did she ever say where your father was?"

"No...Sakura said he might have died getting mom here." Even in that world he didn't get a happy ending.

"Ah, you and Sakura talked about that? Are you upset you never met him?" She took a second to answer.

"Not really…" but it sounded like she kind of wanted to. "I have you." The way she smiled at me melted my heart. "Huh? No! The book!" She cried as it fell when I pulled her into a tight hug.

* * *

Aurora was opening up more and more about what her dream world was like after a few visits with Sakura. She was the first case to prove what the pinkette was doing was important.

I'd learned that Aurora had advanced her skills quite a bit in her dream world, but those kinds of feats were not as easy here as they were there. Aurora quickly learned this when she turned the classroom into a freezer, trying to prove to someone she could make ice mirrors. She didn't have finite details down to perform jutsus of the Yuki clan just yet, but she was close.

"So...how did you freeze the class?" Iruka had called me in after the incident. Aurora had to be punished for this, but she also fixed her mistake, clearing the ice when she realised her jutsu clearly went out of control.

"I wanted to prove I could do a jutsu…" Aurora was sitting at a desk in the front, clearly feeling guilty.

"At least there doesn't seem to be water damage…" Iruka crossed his arms at my comment. "So, punishment…"

"She already cleared the ice like I asked, but I was thinking of a lesson on chakra control." Iruka sighed.

"Not again…"

"You obviously need it, don't argue!" Iruka scolded her.

"Sounds fine to me." Aurora put her head down on the desk, annoyed she was forced to stay for another lesson.

* * *

Aurora's view:

I was told to keep a leaf on my forehead with my chakra and stand in the hall until dad finished grading. I was beyond bored. Just to prove I could, I froze and unfroze the leaf a few times, until it stuck to my forehead without chakra. I closed my eyes, sighing that I was stuck here.

"Seriously?" I opened my eyes, letting out yelp to see dad standing over me, the wet leaf in his hand. "I said to use your chakra to keep it there."

"I got bored and froze it…" I saw the vein on his forehead, now scared for my life.

"That wasn't the point at all! The point was to focus your chakra to keep it there, not freeze it to make it wet…" Thing was, I had kept it there for over an hour, I only just froze it. "Go, thirty laps around the track."

"I did what you said!" I just made it so much worse.

"After that scrub the chalkboard and mop the classroom. See you at home." I balled my fists as he walked away, angry he wasn't listening to me.

* * *

I only did two laps before realizing all the teachers were gone, deciding it was completely pointless to run laps if no one was here. I did the board and mopped before heading off to the training rounds.

The stump I chose now had bark missing from me punching it for so long. I figured out how to make some ice around my knuckles, allowing me to train longer without them bleeding too much. It also made my punches twice as strong, tearing the bark away. I let my frustration out, punching the stump hard enough to leave a large dent deep into the wood.

"Woh! That was quite a hit." I turned around to see Naruto on the stump behind me. "Hey...shouldn't you be home right now? Iruka-sensei must be worried about…"

"He doesn't expect me home for a while." I turned away.

"Did you get in trouble? Heh, I was trouble too, you know."

"Dad told me you painted the Hokage monument once and made fun of the Third."

"Er...yeah, well it wasn't as bad as it sounds, or the worst."

"Yeah right…" I was about to finish off the stump, but Naruto caught my fist with his new arm.

"You're mad about something, aren't you? I don't need my Sage Mode to feel that." Guess he could read people like I could too.

"Dad and father always say to control my chakra better, but I can control it. Just...not all the time. Whenever I try to do ice mirrors, I lose control and freeze everything."  
"Ice mirrors? Huh...that sounds kind of familiar, but maybe it's 'cause you're not ready to do that yet. Ya know...it took me a while to do rasengan. There's not a shortcut to things." Naruto grinned. "Come on, let's go get ramen! That'll cheer you up, it always works for me!" Maybe Naruto-nii was right, I just needed to practice more before going all out.


End file.
